A Far Away Life
by The Wonk
Summary: The premise: Naruto is raising his children far from the Hidden Leaf village. He's in hiding, seclusion, running from his past. It's melodramatic. It's visceral. It's not a light read. Children and young teens should not read this story! I mean it fool!
1. Reckonings

**A Far Away Life**

Author's note: Um...I don't own the rights to Love Hina or Naruto. I make no money off of this. It's freedom of speech baby. Leave reviews. Enjoy the read. Not a happy story. I can't seem to write happy stories.

**Chapter 1: Reckonings**

He watches them from his seat on the porch, the orange hue of daylight telling him that sunset is near.

He's about to call them inside when he stops himself. He hears their laughter; it's like wind chimes dancing in a gentle breeze, a joyous ruckus that he doesn't have the heart to end. So instead, he sits back down on his rocking chair and watches them play.

His oldest is a precocious 12 years old boy named Iruka, Roo to his family. Even as a toddler, he had demonstrated great aptitude and intelligence. "He get's that from his mother," the proud father would often proclaim to any passerby. And on occasions, in a voice too low to hear, he would whisper, "along with those lavender eyes."

Roo was the first and only child of Hinata, daughter of Hirashi, clan leader of the Hyuuga. They had been forced to marry, but the man never complained. After all, he loved her.

She died shortly after their son was born, a victim of a senseless battle.

But that was the past and there was no need to reopen old wounds. So the man turns his attention back to his children. He smiles at what he sees.

Roo is chasing his three other siblings in a rambunctious game of tag.

Of course, as the children of a legendary shinobi, there is no such thing as a simple game of tag.

The youngest one, a little girl by the name of Mihoshi, Miho for short, squeals in delight. The man sees the glint in her eyes, the fox like grin adorning her cherubic face.

She snaps her finger, and poof, she disappears in a cloud of smoke.

Of all his children, Mihoshi is most like their father. Bright in spirit, boundless in energy, eyes bluer than the ocean true – and always full of surprises.

Roo and the twins stops in mid-stride, shocked to see that their baby sister had somehow eluded them through the art of ninjutsu.

Tsunade, ever the little commander, was the first to recover. "Okay men, spread out and search for the missing ninja!"

How such a booming voice could ever come from a mouth that small, her father would never know.

Standing next to the loud girl is his other son. At age 9, Jiraiya, or Rai, stood nearly the same height as his older brother. The man smirks. "That boy is going to be a giant," he laughs to himself. He watches as the little giant shakes his head, making no attempt to hide the displeasure of being ordered around by his sister: "Who made you boss, Tsu?"

The young blonde girl smiles in response, her cuteness radiating with the power of a thousand suns. She drifts towards him, her movements - almost ethereal.

BAM!

Rai did not see his sister's fist knocking him into the ground, but he felt every bit of it.

"I'm sorry, what were you saying?" she asks coolly.

"Nothing," he replies, rubbing the pear-size bump emerging from his head. The man can only chuckle from his porch.

The twins, as they came to be known, were not in fact twins at all. Tsu, when she was six, had stumbled upon a lost little boy who was without a home, a family or a name. Bringing this boy home, she declared, with no consultation with her father, that the boy was named Jiraiya and that he was staying with them "forever."

Naruto could only blink in response and that was how little Jiraiya became his son. Ever since that day three years ago, they had become inseparable: a mischievous gang of two. So Naruto just called them his little twins and the label stuck.

His father may have been distracted by the twins, but not Roo. He remains ever vigilant. After all, a missing ninja is still on the loose.

It's then he notices something just within his peripheral vision: a patch of blond "grass" a few feet away. Roo folds his arm across his chest and gives the patch of earth a confident look. His father just grins with pride, astonished by how talented and smart his children had proven to be. "Dead last," he sighs, remembering his own childhood.

The man shakes his head before anymore memories could be dredged up. No, he would rather live in the moment and forget the past.

His thoughts are interrupted by tiny yelps and shouts of glee. The man looks up and sees his oldest holding his youngest by the collar over a deep hole in the ground.

"Silly," the little boy laughs, "if you're going to bury yourself, make sure you cover your head too."

Mihoshi pouts at her older brother in response, the slight tinge of red in her cheeks expressing her embarrassment.

His other two children, his twins, are rolling on the ground, tears in their eyes, laughing at the young one's predicament.

Roo, with a mischievous smile, winks at the tiny girl still hanging in the air. Her mood instantly lightens. She knows what's coming.

Before the twins have a chance to defend themselves, their other two siblings pounce. Chaos erupts as Mihoshi and Roo proceeds to tickle their siblings, the first salvos of a major tickle war.

The man can't keep from smiling.

How he loves them.

The wind picks up, carrying with it the scent of wild flowers. His eyes widen. He can't be sure, but there, in the corner of his eyes, he sees strands of golden hair floating in the wind.

He turns his head and there sitting next to him is his second wife, Temari of the Sand, a beauty as untamed as the desert itself.

She had grown out her hair, but made no attempt at straightening it as the fashion of the day dictated. Instead, it was curly and wild. He preferred it that way and she knew that as well.

The first time she let her hair down in front of him, it was during a particularly windy day many years ago. They had just finished training together, a joint exercise sponsored by their respective villages. Wanting to unwind, she untied the ribbons bundling her hair, allowing it to fall gently onto her shoulders.

He was about to suggest another round of sparring when he turned his gaze towards her. What he saw that day would change his life forever. Her hair, as blonde as his own, seemed to be alive, dancing to an unheard melody, beckoning him. He was smitten by her beauty. How could he have been so blind?

Slowly, she returned his gaze and found the boy was staring.

"Finally," she thought, "took him long enough."

Emerald eyes met with the deep blue pools and two souls connected. The distance that lay between them vanished.

In the twilight, they shared their first kiss; first of many.

Back on the porch, in a land far from the sand dunes of the Wind Country, he reaches out his hand, her smile never wavering.

"Daddy?"

Temari is gone.

"Daddy?"

The chair is empty.

The man turns his attention to the little one standing on the porch staring at him. Her eyes, one green, one blue, peer into him, past the genteel mask that he forces to the surface.

She sees his sadness, but says nothing about it. She knows daddy's pain and doesn't want to make him feel worst.

"Are you okay Daddy? You got all weird," his youngest squeaks out, sounding like a chibi mouse.

"Yes, I'm fine." And with that, he lifts the young girl up without protest and places a loud wet kiss on her cheek, the suction causing the skin to blotch red.

She squeals in delight.

How she loves her daddy.

"Okay kids, it's time for dinner. Go wash up."

Rai and Roo shout in unison, "Ten more minutes!"

But their pleas came to naught against a man who stared down each of the nine Akatsuki members and lived to tell the tale.

His two little girls, however, are more than a match for the "Hero of the Valley." Tsunade and Mihoshi, their puppy dog eyes at maximum potency, direct their onslaught of cute at their hapless father. "Pweety pweese," they chimed in.

His resolve crumbles in seconds.

"Okay, ten more minutes, but then we eat."

The children bounce up in joy as they revel in their victory against the legend that they knew to be their father.

And so, the man walks back to his chair and watches as his children make the most of their newly acquired time.

Their joy would be short lived.

Though he had been retired for many years, he was still the master of masters in the shadow arts.

"Children get inside."

The tone of his voice tells them that there would be no debate. Roo, taking charge of his siblings, grabs his little sisters' hands and lead them into the house. Rai takes the rear, his eyes sweeping the landscape for any threats to his adopted family.

"Go to the basement and stay there," speaks the man with an even tone. Roo nods in compliance. His children are afraid. He'll make the intruder pay for that.

The man stands and breathes in deep. He does not fear the approaching shinobi. Though strong, his opponent is not strong enough. He could tell that from the chakra, but he fears any contact with that world.

He already lost two wives to it; he did not want to lose his children as well.

The man ponders that maybe a quick kill, a non-descript grave, and a hasty move may be sufficient to protect his family from unnecessary attention, but the scent tells him otherwise – the scent of cherry blossoms.

The man focuses his attention on the distant forest nearly a mile away. His eyes narrow. He sees her.

"He sees me?!"

The kunoichi knows that it's impossible for this man to see her, legend or not. She's well hidden in the foliage and a mile away from him. Through her binoculars, she could also see that he has no telescope or lens that could aid him.

No, it was just coincidence, but her heart continues to beat furiously against her chest. She had every right to be cautious. Hell, she was scared and no one could blame her given the target.

She was raised on his stories. Parents would tell great tales of his adventures. He was the man known as the Hero of the Valley, the slayer of armies, the one who killed the great Kages of the Mist and Rock villages. His power was legend. Who was she? Motoko Aoyoma, a rookie ANBU operative on her first long distance mission. She knew that she was no match for that man – the man who was walking her way.

"Shit, is he coming this way?"

Her heart nearly ruptured at the answer. As an ANBU operative, she was trained in the art of lip reading, an important skill for a spy.

Through the binoculars, she saw the man's lips move. It took only a moment for her to interpret its movements.

"I am."

"Impossible!" she mentally screams. There was no earthly way that he could hear her from such a great distance, but she could not deny the evidence, nor ignore those terrible eyes, like burning hellfire, spewing forth wrath and destruction.

A single word enters her raddled brain: "Run!"

With all her might, she leaps from her perch and runs – hard – but she wouldn't get far.

In mid leap, she feels a crushing blow to her midsection, forcing air and blood from her body. She hears the wind whipping past her ears as she flies through the air, the leaves cutting into her flesh. Pain courses through her body as she makes impact with a large fir tree, splintering its bark.

Motoko wants to scream, but her diaphragm will not contract, leaving her lungs powerless to draw breath.

Groggy and in agony, she slumps to the ground.

Her senses, however, had not been dulled by the attack. Her ears pick up the slight crunching of grass underfoot. Someone is approaching. Terror grips her soul; old memories resurface as her mind struggles to stay sane.

They had met years ago, though not directly. She had been there when he left the Hidden Leaf village. Motoko was just a young chunnin back then.

Her chunnin team, along with the rest of the shinobi, had assembled at the massive gates of the village in response to the news of his abrupt departure. She didn't know why, but the Hero of the Valley, as he had been called at the time, was leaving the village.

By the time she got to the gates, the Hokage and her personal body guards stood before the man, preventing him from leaving.

She couldn't make out what they were saying, but she could see the near hysterical Hokage shouting at the man, whose visage remained obscured by the straw hat that he was wearing.

It was the first time that any of the shinobi witnessed such a display of weakness from any Kage, but they could not blame her.

She was losing her son.

The man stretched out his hand, shocking the Hokage into silence. Motoko could see the spiraling sphere of chakra forming in the man's palm, the technique that had made his father a legend: the Rasengan.

So powerful was his technique that it caused the winds to bend. The weaker shinobi had to latch themselves to others lest they blew away from the hurricane gusts emanating from the sphere.

But Motoko only saw the eyes of her Hokage, the sight of which nearly broke her heart. Such sadness was in those eyes.

With a mighty roar, the man slammed his palm into the ground, creating a shockwave that drove towards the gates, goring the Earth of its flesh. It took the strength of five ANBU operatives to force the Hokage out of the destructive path of his technique.

For nearly one hundred years, the gates of the Hidden Leaf Village stood impervious to all the ravages of man and nature.

In less than a moment, the gates had been destroyed, shattered into oblivion. Only ruin and the deep gash of earth was left behind to speak of his power.

As he walked past the Hokage, he turned to the crowd and decreed in a voice that seemed to boom with such malice and ill will that even the hardest among them cringed.

"Any who follows me, any who dares disturb my peace, I shall end them!"

His words felt like icicles, stabbing into the heart of every shinobi in attendance. The great hero was gone.

On that day, Motoko prayed that she would never have to meet that man again, the man standing before her.

Her body is quivering. She wants to flee, but cannot. Her diaphragm stirs – finally she can breathe. Air enters her lungs in shallow, rapid gasps. Tears begin to stream down, the pride she has is all but shattered, like her body.

He grabs her scalp. She whimpers in pain as he pulls her up, her body dangling under his grasp. The pain is excruciating, but she can't will her legs to support the weight.

She can feel hair follicles being torn from its roots. She tries to open her eyes, but she's too afraid.

The killing intent that the man emits is overpowering her senses. She is an insect to this man.

She begs, "please…please don't kill me."

The man frowns. "How did I become like this," he asks himself. Years ago, he would never have harmed someone as decent as this young shinobi, but that was years ago. And the years had not been kind to him.

He raises his fist. Better to make it quick. As he strikes, a blur of pink races past him, his cherry blossom has finally reveled herself. He's grateful. Killing women was always difficult business for the man.

The tree beneath his fist explodes, spraying the surrounding area with splinters and wood chips.

He's amazed at how fast she had gotten since the last time they met. "What else has change?" he wonders.

"I've come to end you demon."

He smirks. Her voice sends chills down his spine. The man hopes his wives will understand for the moment of weakness.

First love is never easy to forget.

He turns around and sees a kunoichi gently placing the wounded Motoko onto the back of a giant slug. She wears the standard uniform of an ANBU Black OP, the elite of the elite in the Hidden Leaf Village.

Only the most skilled and experienced shinobi can join their group. He's saved many in his life.

"Go my friend, speed her to the others."

The slug nods and slithers away, leaving behind a trail of slime that fills his nostrils with a sickening sweet odor.

He decides to speak, hoping that he does not have to kill a friend this day: "Leave now Sakura or I will keep my word."

At first, she does nothing, her back still facing him – a defiant act. Never turn your back against an enemy, so the adage goes, especially one such as him.

"You're not fast enough," he adds.

His words echo in her ears, words spoken years ago. But she forces those memories back into the abyss and steels herself. She replies, "Your word? What good is the word of a demon?"

She hopes to get a rise out of the man, to see some semblance of the hyper-active youth that she once knew.

But he doesn't take the bait. He's made his peace with the evil entombed in his body.

"Suit yourself." His words are devoid of emotions, but laced with killing intent.

He attacks. His speed is beyond human. The world slows for him; his body feels like it's moving in molasses. He knows that his mind is barely able to keep up with the speed that his body is experiencing, but he can function enough to draw his kunai and stab at the warm body in front of him.

The blade pierces her armor with relative ease. He barely feels the resistance. His eyes widen as the body surrounding his blade begins to dissolve. He can see the solid mass of her body giving way to a billowing stack of smoke.

He stops, the world speeds up. His smirk returns. "A shadow clone Sakura, I see you've copied my tactics," he says mockingly.

Four kunais, laced with poison and armed with explosive notes, speed towards the back of his head. The man dodges them with ease, disarming them as they pass.

From the trees, thousands of slugs rain down on him, each one spitting out organic acid. The man just sighs in response.

His hands form seals at a pace that only a Sharingan eye could see. He doesn't utter words to finish the technique, he doesn't have to.

Without warning, the slugs are shredded into minute chunks by invisible blades, their acid neutralized by an unseen force.

Sakura can only gawk at how easily her best attacks have been thwarted. But she will not give up the fight. Cracking her knuckles, she prepares for hand to hand combat.

A suicidal plan given the man's superior taijutsu, but she has no other recourse. She is a close-combat fighter. She has no useful range attacks, none that would work on him anyway.

She lunges forward, her chakra enhanced fist mere centimeters from his body. She knows she can liquefy solid granite with her punches, but she's too slow. Sakura expects him to disappear.

Impact!

She gasps. She doesn't know what frightens her more, the fact that she was now open to a counter-attack or that her punch didn't seem to affect him in the slightest.

Before Sakura could remove her fist from his chest, the man decides to end it. She can see his shoulder rise, just barely. Before she can register anything else, Sakura feels the sickening pain of her flesh being slashed open, her mid-section bleeding profusely from the wound.

She screams in pain, instinctively clutching her torn belly with her arms. An instant later, a deep gash forms on the inside of her right thigh, blood flowing down her leg in rivulets. Her right hand reaches out to apply pressure to her leg, when she feels her left leg give way, the tendon in her calf being sliced in half.

She wants to cry out, but she would not give the bastard the satisfaction.

Sakura feels her head being jerked back hard, a hot, wet, breath lapping her right ear.

She blushes, she's longed for his touch, but not like this. He whispers, "You shouldn't have come here."

She has no chance to respond. He draws the blade across her throat; the blood spurts out as the artery is pierced.

He sees her gurgling blood, crimson liquid bubbling from her wound. The man looks into her eyes and does not hide his regret. He'll give her that much.

He watches as her pupils dilate; only dead lifeless eyes remain.

The man feels remorse, but doesn't let it go any further than that. He places her body on the ground and walks away.

The man doesn't make it far before he hears the voice of a dead woman.

"I'm taking you back Naruto, no matter how many times you kill me."

He breathes a sigh of relief. Though he intended to kill her, he was glad that she was still alive. He turns around and notices that the seal on her forehead had disappeared. He had seen this only once before when Tsunade had unleashed the seal's power during their battle with Orochimaru. A regeneration technique that enabled the user to heal any wound during a short period of time, even a slashed throat could be repaired. She must have initiated it before the battle had begun. "Clever girl," he thinks.

"I killed you once. I won't be able to do it again," he honestly replies.

Sakura stood there, her mouth gaping. His voice, she swore she heard sincerity in his voice. Her resolve was cracking, old emotions threatening to resurface.

He could see the turmoil in her eyes. Hadn't he sworn once, a long time ago, to never cause her pain? But what good was his word now? He had vowed to protect Hinata and Temari, but they were both dead.

Feeling the weight of his grief, he gives up the game shinobi play.

No witty banter. No dramatic monologue. Instead, he asks a simple question: "Why must you keep torturing me Sakura?"

She could feel the misery in every word he utters, the profound sorrow melting away her cold exterior.

She was left bare to him, naked and vulnerable.

How she loved him still.

"Please Naruto, just come back home…"

There was no hesitation in his reply.

"My home is here Sakura."

His words crush her. She wants to break down and weep at her loss, but she is shinobi. She cannot give in to her pain. Finding strength, she straightens her spine, her eyes meeting his.

She speaks, issuing her proclamation. "Uzumaki Naruto, you are hereby ordered to return to the Hidden Leaf village."

Naruto doesn't respond. Instead, he turns around and begins to walk back home. Before Sakura can call out again, he responds.

"I'm retired Sakura, I don't take orders anymore."

Her response stuns him. He can feel his heart beginning to ache. Her words are daggers to his soul.

"Even if it's the final request of the Hokage?"


	2. The First Glimpse

**A/N:** I like non-linear narratives. If you don't, then stop reading my story. Also, I need reviews to feed my ego and drive my passion, so please review. I'm grateful for the comments, even from that guy who wrote the critical one. Those of you who read my work before knows that I don't really care so much about canon. I write cuz it amuses me. So live with it. Enjoy. Oh, it gets a bit graphic so be warned.

**Chapter 2: The First Glimpse**

The sun had already risen from its earthly slumber when the caravan departed. In the wagon, four children lay sleeping, dreaming of adventure and glory. One dreams of sweets.

Sakura smiles at the happy brood, but her mood darkens as she catches his gaze. He makes no attempt of hiding his bitterness and resentment. Sakura does not let him see her pain or her sorrow. No, she would not allow him to see her weakness.

Instead, she steels herself and allows her anger to filter through her mask. For years, she had harbored a love for him that he would not return, a love she knew he shared. Her misery had festered until it bred a deep seething anger at the man sitting only a few feet away.

So she scowls at him, but she cannot deny the pain in her heart, the deep long for his touch. Her mind cuts back to the day before.

She was screaming at him, her mouth almost frothing from rage. She had just told him of Tsunade and her final wish, and what did he do? He walked away. No outpouring of grief or callous remark.

He just walked away. The woman he professed to love as a mother received no more attention from him than a stranger. Sakura could not hold to that. She knew how pointless it was to attack him, given his impossible strength and abilities, but she was possessed by years of burning anguish and regret.

In one moment, all her grief, all her loneliness, all the emotions that she had endured since the day she had lost him to another, came to bear. She whips out her kunai. Naruto, sensing the danger turns to face the woman. Their eyes lock, each expressing a cascade of emotions that range from hatred to something darker, something primal. Without preamble, she lunges at him. The collision reverberates throughout their bodies. She can feel her teeth rattle. He can taste blood in his mouth. They crash hard into the unforgiving ground.

Though her actions are ferocious, her mind is sharp, as if all her senses have been made hyper aware. She spots an opening. She strikes. Her roar becomes a terrible screeching sound, as she plunges her weapon into his mid-section, her eyes never leaving his.

Naruto cringes at the intrusion, but ignores the pain. He focuses only on her – it's a common theme throughout his life. His right forearm pushes against her throat, restricting her airway, causing her to stop screaming. His left hand wraps around her head, his fingers grasping her hair, forcibly pulling her head back. Their eyes never waver from each other, a deadly game of chicken playing out in the forest.

She starts to feel light headed, but the intensity of her rage keeps her focused. She pulls out the blade; the sickening sound of tearing flesh fills her ears. She forces out another roar before plunging the steel back into him. "Say something damn you!"

He grimaces, but reveals nothing more. He could snap her neck, but doesn't think to do it. All he feels is heat, an unbearable heat in his body. She feels it too.

A tear trickles down her left eye, but it's the only sign of weakness she will betray. Their body writhes together in agony. They struggle to endure the harsh punishment of the other.

GOD, TOO HOT!

Her mind ceases all higher thought processes, allowing a voice from the dark recesses of the instinctual past to break through. It speaks only one word.

"NOW!"

Her hips begin to dig into his pelvis, its motion sparking an inferno in the man's loins. A guttural sound escapes his lips as his breathing turns erratic. He's not sure if it's the loss of blood or the scent she's giving off, but it's making him feel weak, hungry.

The tension mounts, the temperature rises. Neither will break course. Her hot breath washes over him, the smell of his musk filling her nostrils. She growls as her hand loosens its grip on the kunai.

Naruto, feeling his control slipping, lets loose an ungodly howl. Something awakens in Sakura in response, something beastly.

He slams her into the ground, forcing the air from her lungs; still, her eyes remain their hold on his. She breathes him in, his taste tantalizing her senses. He pulls out the blade sticking from his side and tosses it aside. The wound heals thanks in part to the demon's chakra within him. He pays it no mind.

Only his prey concerns him. Only the sounds coming from throat captures his attention. She sees heat in his eyes and acts. With feral strokes, she rips his shirt off, leaving streaks of blood across his chest.

He howls again, his hunger deepens. Her ANBU vest gives easily to his powerful talons. He grips her pants and tears it from her body, until she is bare and exposed, sweat and his blood glistening off of her taught figure. He hovers above her, but only for a moment. There are no words exchanged, nor expressions of love. Only a primal roar as he plunges his girth into her. Her eyes clench shut instinctively from the pain. She feels his teeth sinking into the flesh of her right shoulder.

The pain is incredible, but so is the release. The night begins to fill with the sound of their carnal act. Time passes, but neither knows how much. The end comes in an explosion of sweet oblivious bliss, and a single moment of peace.

The moment passes all too soon for them. Their breathing slows, their eyes still locked. She stares into his lustrous blue eyes and sees an ocean of turmoil. How many nights have she seen those eyes in her dreams? They were so carefree once, so filled with life. Now, his eyes are clouded with so much sorrow.

He begins to stir. She panics. She knows that it's fleeting, but his warmth is all she needs in this world. She grabs onto him and pulls him in. Before he can resist, she presses her lips to his, trying to breathe him in, trying to keep him from leaving – again.

But he doesn't kiss her back. His lips are tight, his breathing steady. With firm hands, he pushes her off and rises. Sakura can only stare at the lowly earth beneath him, the oppressive weight on her chest keeping her from breathing freely. Her mind is numb, her body is cold. She longs for the earth to swallow her whole and end her misery. But she continues to linger on.

He begins to walk away, his back, it seems is always to her. He stops. He speaks still facing forward.

"We'll leave in the morning. All of us."

Hope is rekindled.

Sakura's mind returns to the present. She looks to the man again. His gaze returns to his children. He looks happy and at peace.

She does not know his turmoil. She does not know how he struggles with the one emotion he dreads most now. She only knows that he's far from her, even though he sits a few feet away.

"How did it come to this?" she wonders aloud, her voice barely audible.

Naruto, his hand caressing Mihoshi's soft fleshy cheeks looks to the setting sun.

"I don't know," he says, his words carried away by the wind.


	3. A Day in the Life of Uzumaki Naruto

**A/N:** Thank you for the reviews. I enjoy reading them, even the critical ones. In response to one of those critical comments, I will say that I have no intention of straying from the character's personas too much, only to explore how they would develop given different circumstances – what the hell is the point of fanfiction if you can't explore with plots and characters. Keep those reviews coming.

**Chapter 3: A Day in the Life of Naruto Uzumaki**

Uzumaki Naruto stands before the gates of the Hidden Leaf Village feeling cold. He swore once never to return to this place, not after he lost Temari, but he was no longer that idealistic fool with the promises. He had grown up.

He swallows whatever pride he has left and moves towards the entrance, but hesitates after a few steps. He turns and sees Iruka, the boy's expression is solemn.

He feels the trepidation in his oldest child's steps. Unlike his siblings, Iruka had clear memories of their time in the Hidden Leaf village. With his photographic memory, he could recount every joy and every bit of sadness from the time he was a few months old.

He smells the familiar scent of lilacs in the wind. Something stirs in young Iruka, an unsettling feeling of memories bubbling into his consciousness.

Images of a beautiful woman with lavender eyes flashes before him. He hears her sing to him, a lullaby sung by Hyuuga mothers since the founding of the village. Her voice soothes him and pains all at once.

He remembers his mother, he remembers it all.

Naruto embraces him as Iruka begins to sob, trying to hold back the tears, but he cannot. He remembers the tears and sad whispers. He remembers the wailing of the Hyuuga women as they mourn the passing of their own. He remembers his father crying at night, the sounds muffled by the pillow pressed against his face.

He remembers the day he saw his mother, lying in a casket, cold and still.

Iruka breaks down. His father holds him, stroking the back of his son's hair. He whispers, "It's okay," over and over again.

Sakura looks on, her heart breaking at the scene. She sees the twins holding each other as they watch their brother melt down. Sakura sees understanding in their expression. They know of their brother's pain, for the sorrow he expresses is familiar to them.

Only Mihoshi is confused for she was too young to remember the Hidden Leaf Village or the tragedies that had befell their family. She doesn't understand why her brother is crying. She reaches out, but is held back by Sakura, who encompasses the young one in her arms. She tells her that it's okay, that her brother is just sad over a memory.

Mihoshi, not understanding the significance of Sakura's words, asks, "What sad memory pink hair lady?" Sakura has no words to speak. She looks into the little girl's eyes – so like her father's – and whispers, "Something bad happened a long time ago."

As she spoke those words, Sakura's mind drifted to the memory of that dark day.

10 years ago…

It started with a craving for something sweet. Hinata Uzumaki wasn't just hungry, she was famished, and the only thing that could satisfy her yearning was strawberries – ripe, juicy strawberries. Naruto, her husband, could only sit and watch in amazement as his wife, swollen with their second child, made her way to the door.

"Why not just get some strawberry ice cream or jam from the store across the street?" he chuckled, still not believing that she was willing to travel the three miles to the only grocer who carried strawberries during the winter. The death glare from the usually sweet Hinata sent shivers down his spine.

"Are you saying that our baby doesn't deserve real strawberries?" she asked icily, her blue chakra becoming visible, its intensity peeling the paint off of the nearby wall. Naruto, recognizing a hormone-addled Hyuuga was not someone you disagreed with, shook his head emphatically. "No, I'm not saying that at all. All I'm saying is that it's cold out there and you should not be moving around so much. Why don't you just let me get the strawberries?" he nervously stuttered.

Hinata could only giggle, her anger instantly diffused by her husband's antics. Naruto was perhaps the most feared man in the shinobi world – and rightly so. His power was unrivaled. Even the Hokage, supposedly the strongest ninja of the village, could not match him in speed, strength or skill in the killing arts.

So to see him tremble before her righteous maternal fury amused Hinata to no end. He was so sweet that way. His enemies and even some of the villagers thought him a monster, but to Hinata, Naruto was the opposite. He was a silly, lovable fool, her fool. "I'm not some hapless girl Naruto. I am the Matriarch of the Uzumaki Clan and a proud ninja of the Leaf. A three mile walk is nothing for me, pregnant or not," she said, taking hold his hand.

Even now, after only two years of blissful marriage, Hinata was still surprised at how much she had changed. She was no longer the shy, mousy girl of her youth, but a confident young mother, sensual and strong. And she owed it all to the man before her, his hand now firmly pressed against her cheek, the warmth of his being infusing into her.

"Besides," she continued, "you have to retrieve our boy from the Hokage. So don't worry. I'll be fine."

Naruto still looked unconvinced, but Hinata would have none of it. His hand still in tow, she led the young shinobi out onto their balcony. She pulled him close and pressed her lips onto his, her tongue unabashedly sweeping his own. Naruto, feeling the heat course through his body, let out a small moan, wanting more.

Suddenly, the cold rushed in as Hinata broke from their kiss, leaving Naruto burning with carnal desire. He could only gawk at the cool demeanor of his wife as she looked at him, a smirk plastering her face. "Not in the third trimester buster," she huffed, before pushing him off the ledge. "Hinata," Naruto yelled out, his eyes widening as he felt himself plummeting to the ground twelve stories below.

Hinata watched as Naruto's hands blurred as he formed a ninjutsu seal. An instant later, Naruto disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Haruka smiled, the taste of her husband's lips still lingering in her mouth. "Now it's time for those strawberries," she declared with a rather noticeable grin.

….

Tsunade was growing tired of being the Hokage. She hated the endless debates, meetings, and the rancid politics of her position. She was a warrior, a medic ninja – not some paper pusher. And yet, most of her time was devoted to reading reports, signing forms, and other assorted nonsense.

But then her "little boy" had gotten himself a little boy, and well, as the official Godmother to Uzumaki Iruka and the Chief Medical officer of the Leaf Medical Corp, Tsunade was obligated to provide the boy with the best available medical care possible or play with him – whatever got her out of doing actual administrative work.

"Peek-a-boo," Tsunade cooed as she flipped her hands away from the boy's eyes. Iruka, just a little over one years of age, laughed gleefully, as he watched the woman disappear and reappear like magic, over and over again. "Why can't all men be so easy to please," spoke the Hokage, as she continued to "examine" Iruka.

"Hokage-same!" gasped Shizune, "please, refrain from using such innuendos around Iruka." Tsunade, giving her an annoyed look, picked up Iruka, and turned her body around so that her back was facing towards her loyal charge.

Shizune was livid at how juvenile the Hokage was acting. For god sakes, she was far too old to act so immature, but Shizune would never say such a thing out loud, not within hearing distance anyway – she enjoyed living too much for that.

Still, the Hokage had her duties to fulfill. "Please Hokage-sama, there is very important business to attend to right now. The ANBU budget needs to be finalized before the next council session and we still haven't sent a delegate to the Wave Country…" Shizune felt a pang of regret as she watched Tsunade sigh, her gaze fixed on the delicate fingers of the boy as they clutched onto her hair.

Tsunade was tired. Why could she not just play with her godson in peace? Hadn't she earned that right? Then she remembered that her time as Hokage, along with its demands, was drawing to a close.

"Soon," she giggled in anticipation, "soon my hell will be over." The decision had been made. The council had of course resisted her proposal. After all, he was still too young for the responsibilities of leadership. Naruto may be the most powerful ninja of the Leaf village, but he was only 22 years old. Even his father, the Fourth Hokage, did not attain the mantle of leadership until well into his adulthood.

But Tsunade knew that the council's reservation was based on fear more than anything else. It had been an unwritten rule that the purpose of the council was to check the power of the Hokage. Though the Hokage was the strongest, he or she could not match the combined strength of the council members, who were powerful ninjas in their own right.

Naruto would be the exception. The majority of the Council held Naruto to the highest esteem, but as men and women of interest, they also feared his power. A minority of the Council feared his power as well, but for different reasons. They feared the demon that he harbored – the nine-tailed demon fox. It had been more than two decades since the infamous attack that had nearly destroyed the village, and the old wounds from that day had yet to fully heal.

"We cannot allow the demon child to become Hokage," an old crone in council member garb shouted, trying to spur his fellows into action. Tsunade slammed her fist into table next to her, splinters its solid oak construction. She roared, "YOU WILL ADDRESS HIM AS UZUMAKI NARUTO! UNDERSTAND!"

Her outburst silenced the chatter of the council. She took a moment to stare down any who would think to meet her gaze. Hiashi, the head of the Hyuuga, did not flinch when her eyes locked onto his. He loved Naruto, but he had responsibilities that demanded him to act.

With equal resolve, he spoke, his gaze never wavering from Tsunade, "Hokage-sama. Unlike my wayward colleague here, I harbor no ill will to my son-in-law and would serve him dutifully if he was to claim your mantle, but I must voice my opinion. He is too young for such a responsibility. He is strong, yes. He is capable, yes. But to be Hokage is to be more than strong and capable as I am sure you can attest to. To be Hokage, he must be able to act, judiciously and without prejudice. As Hokage, he must also be able to sacrifice for the greater good, even if it means his life or the lives of those close to him."

Hiashi's last few words hung heavy in the air. All in attendance knew of what the Hyuuga meant by those words. Tsunade's brow furrowed as she knew the man had raised a very important point. Would Naruto be willing to sacrifice the lives of his wife and child for the good of the village, for they would undoubtedly become targets to the ambitions of evil men?

It was the reason why all of the past Hokages had no real families to speak of. The First had children, several of them, but they had grown to adulthood before he became the Hokage. This was the case for the Third as well. The Second and Fourth Hokage were bachelors. Naruto would be the first Hokage with a family and there were serious concerns of how well he'll be able to balance the demands of being both a leader and a father.

But Tsunade had faith in her Naruto. If any man could do it, it would be him. Finding her resolve, The Fifth Hokage stood from her seat and replied, "You're concerns are valid Hiashi, but it lacks a fundamental understanding of the man that you speak of. I remind you that Uzumaki Naruto is power incarnate. If he so chooses, he could take rule of this village and this country by sheer force and we would be powerless to stop him. But he has never used his power to gain influence or favor. He uses his power only to aid and defend the interests of this village. He only asks for one thing; he wants the chance to protect all that is precious to him. For this reason alone, I am confident that he has the fortitude and will to achieve anything."

Hiashi weighed her words carefully and for the first time in his life, he felt detached from his revered sense of reason. Instead, his heart told him what his mind could not fathom. Could a man truly be as good and caring as the Hokage made it out to seem? He would vehemently deny such a concept, believing any being able to reason is also motivated, fundamentally, by self interest.

But was it not Naruto who saved his daughter from a cruel fate at the expense of his own happiness? Taking another moment to collect his thoughts, Hiashi reached his conclusion. With bated breath, the other councilmembers watched as Hiashi sat back down, relinquishing his objection to the nomination.

Taking her cue, Tsunade returns her terrible glare on the rest of the council. She dares them again to defy her, but no answers her call. Instead, they begin to bow their heads down, one by one, capitulating to her will.

When the last head had bowed, Tsunade continued, "Naruto has saved this village countless times over. He has defeated our most grievous of enemies, increased our prestige among the other nations, and all this, while being mocked, ridiculed, and mistreated by the very village he swore to protect. He has every right to abandon us, but he does not. He does not because he is a true ninja of the Leaf, and as such, the most able to serve as Hokage. My decision is final. He will be the Sixth Hokage!"

And with that, Tsunade left the chamber, her clenched fist serving as a reminder that her words – on this matter – were law.

Tsunade had been giddy ever since the meeting adjourned. She couldn't wait to tell her little rascal that his dream was about to come true. Looking at the clock, Tsunade's left eye began to twitch. "The most important day of his life, and he's ten minutes late," she said gritting her teeth. But the anger quickly dissipated as she felt the young boy pulling at her hair again. "Oh well, that's just more play time for us, right kid?" she chuckled, winking at young Iruka. The boy just giggled in return.

Before she could indulge in anymore fun, her highly acute hearing had picked up the faint sound of footsteps.

But before Naruto could open the door, the sound of a tremendous explosion rocked the air. Years of experience and his own heightened senses had allowed him to locate the source of the sound. "Hinata," he blanched, knowing that the explosion had occurred somewhere in the vicinity of the market, where his wife would be.

Naruto's hand blurred as he sped through the seals needed to call upon the Hiraishin no Jutsu, a technique developed by his father. It allowed a shinobi to transport instantaneously to any location that was marked by a special seal. When properly used, the technique could be used to fell entire armies, which was how the Fourth had received his nickname: the Yellow Flash of the Hidden Leaf.

Naruto, ever mindful of his wife, had slipped the special symbol into her purse so that he could always reach her in times of trouble.

But as Naruto materialized from the portal created by his jutsu, he did not see his wife. He could only see the rubble and the dead.

Uzumaki Naruto was a veteran of many battles, so he was no stranger to carnage. As the inheritor of his father's techniques, Naruto was often be sent on the most dangerous of missions and forced to fight against the most ruthless combatants in the world.

No - violence and bloodshed had been a staple for the young shinobi. But he had never thought such perils would be visited upon his home. Even after living through the failed Sound Invasion during his genin days, Naruto could not fathom his home, the strongest of all the hidden villages, to ever know the horrors of war – not while he was around anyway.

But the strewn bodies of the fallen and the rubble that had once been storefronts dispelled all of his false delusions of safety.

Taking only a moment to perform the necessary hand seal, Naruto shouted, "Kage no bushin jutsu." It was the technique that had made the young shinobi one of the most feared in all the land. Though he did not develop the technique, he had mastered it in ways that no other shinobi could. It was the reason why his enemies bestowed upon him the name Legion – for he was many.

The popping sound of a hundred shadow clones filled the air, each one armed with a single thought: "Find Hinata!"

An army of Narutos began to shift through the wreckage, each praying the same prayer.

"Please be alive."

Only two minutes had passed since the sound of the explosion drew Naruto in. ANBU operatives and other Leaf shinobi began to arrive en masse. Some were rescuing the survivors, while others searched for the culprit responsible for the attack.

Naruto spotted a familiar presence among the ANBU. "You," he called out, pointing to the man behind a mask. Without a word, the ANBU looked up and immediately rushed to Naruto's side.

The man had been an ANBU captain for three years and had grown rather arrogant as most men in his position had become, but Kiba would never deny or question a request from his friend and commander.

"Sir."

Naruto had been given the authority to make command decisions in the field over ANBU operatives, but was not a member himself. Though he respected the ANBU, he did not want to be part of their world. They were the assassins – the ones sent to do the killing. It wasn't as if he had no taste for slaughter. Quite the opposite, for Naruto had been slowly changed by the Kyuubi's powers – his lust for blood was ever present, lurking beneath the underneath.

But he would never give into the ecstasy of the kill. It would hurt Hinata too much to see him that way, which is why he refused to join the ANBU. And as such, he had never exercised his authority over them outside of a mission because it didn't seem right for him to do so. He wasn't one of them.

Until today.

"Take five of my clones and search over there for survivors," Naruto commanded with a voice as cold as steel.

"Hai," Kiba replied, perturbed by the tone of his friend's voice. For as long as he had known the man, Kiba had never heard such panic in Naruto's voice.

Sensing his hesitation, Naruto grumbled as he continued his search, "my wife was going to the market today."

Dread struck Kiba in a wave that had almost overwhelmed him. But he would not stand idly by while his friend was in need of his help. Without further pause, Kiba led the clones to search for Hinata, hoping that his friend's wife was okay.

Sakura, arriving on the scene with Tsunade, Ino, and Shizune, was stunned by the carnage before her. Nearly three blocks of the downtown market had been destroyed. There were signs of life, the groaning of the wounded and dying, but there were few of those.

Whatever had happened, it killed nearly everyone in the area.

Tsunade's expression remained hard and fixed. She had seen her village burn before, from wars fought long ago, and so had been use to the sight of death on a large scale. But the fury was clearly visible in her furrowed brow. Her keen eyes noted the pattern of the scorch marks and debris and came to the conclusion that a single explosive device had caused the devastation before her.

"Sakura, set up a triage unit here. Ino, organize transport for the wounded back to the hospital. Shizune, organize the search and rescue teams and have them look for survivors."

Before she could say the word "go," her young medical officers were off, executing the Hokage's command.

"Kakashi," Tsunade yelled, not pausing in the recovery effort.

A moment later, the Copy-nin appeared before her in a puff of smoke. Before he could say anything, Tsunade commanded him to take two ANBU squads and find the trail of the culprit.

As Kakashi turned to leave, Tsunade added, "You do know who's responsible for this, don't you Kakashi?"

Kakashi didn't turn his head to respond, he didn't have to. The Hokage already knew what he was going to say, but he said it anyway.

"Deidra."

"Deidra would not act without his consent," Tsunade added.

For a moment, Kakashi's shoulders slump under the weight of his guilt. He had once been the sensei to the man responsible for the day's bloodbath. The one who could have ended all this suffering all these years ago if hadn't been so blind to the boy's black heart.

"Sasuke…"

And then he was gone.

Deidra had survived the destruction of the Akatsuki and joined up with Sasuke and his motley gang of thugs. And though Tsunade thought him a traitor, she never entertained the idea that the last scion of the Uchiha clan could be an enemy of the state. It was this revelation that had pained her the most. She knew that the man she considered her son still held hopes for the Uchiha's return.

But those dreams were dead now. Sasuke had just declared war against the Hidden Leaf village and Tsunade had every intention of paying back the traitor in kind.

An hour had passed since the attack and Sakura found herself doing very little. As was the standard procedure for a disaster event, Shizune's group would only bring back the wounded. The dead were left for later.

Of the estimated three hundred souls that had visited the market that day, only a handful had been found alive.

And four had already died in Sakura's care before Ino could arrange transport to the hospital.

Another died on transit.

And two died on the surgery table back at the hospital.

It was a grim day.

But for Sakura, the worst had yet to transpire. It came in a low rumble at first, but then it grew louder and louder until the very earth seemed to shake. At first, she could not identify the terrible sound that seemed to resonate in the air, but it terrified her nonetheless.

The sound was so wretched and dripping with rage.

"Naruto…"

Tsunade had uttered the name of the young shinobi, quietly, barely audible to anyone but Sakura.

She looked up from her crouch position, seeing the worry in her Hokage's expression. "Naruto?" Sakura asked, wondering what the Hokage was thinking about.

It was then she noticed Tsunade's eyes. They were quivering with tears starting to trickle down. Sakura was floored as she had never known her sensei and commander to exhibit such tender emotions before.

But before Sakura could ponder further about Tsunade's new found emotional expressiveness, she felt nauseated from a chakra wave that had swept across her body. She had never felt anything like it before. It made every hair on her body stand on end. Her heart began to beat faster, her anxiety rising, but she remained ignorant as to why.

"What the hell?" Sakura gasped as she turned to the source of the wave.

Her eyes widened at the sight before her.

In the distance was Naruto, standing above a pile of debris that had once been his favorite ramen stand. His chakra was emanating from his body in a fiery glow, pulsating in menacing waves. The very ground he stood upon seemed to crumble from the sheer power of his misery.

The older shinobi could feel the demon fox's presence in the swirl of energy sweeping over the land, but there was something else that hung in the air. Sakura could feel it as well. She began to shiver uncontrollably as the dark energy swept across her skin again.

Then the howling began.

The hundreds of shadow clones rummaging through the rubble had all stopped simultaneously. Kiba was startled by their action. "What are…" but before he could finish, he was interrupted by the cacophony of human misery pouring out of the clones' mouths. Kiba stared in disbelief as he watched the hundreds of clones scattered throughout the area, in one unified action, howling towards the heavens.

It was a dirge of wretchedness, the likes of which had never been heard in the land of Fire.

Snapping out of her stupor, Sakura shook off her dread and ran to him. As she neared Naruto, her heart began to beat faster and with more force until it felt like it was going to burst through her chest.

Then in one moment – it nearly stopped.

For what she saw that day would be an image indelibly burned into her memory. It was the sight of the man she loved, even now, carrying the body of her friend from amidst the wreckage.

From the movement of the dangling arms, Sakura could tell that Hinata was dead.

"Hinata," Sakura choked out before she was cut off by the Naruto's deafening wail.

Naruto, still holding his wife in his arms, had fallen to his knees. He was crying out in pure agony towards the heavens, hoping, praying that this was all a terrible dream.

But no matter how loud he screamed, he could not wake up from it.

He was still holding her in his arms.

She was still dead.

And so was their baby.


	4. One Fight Too Many

**Chapter 4: One Fight Too Many**

**AN: So, I've decided that I will no longer be restrained by things like linear plot developments and narratives. I'm going to bounce around. For those of you who can't appreciate, stop reading. Oh, and this story gets bloody, so stop reading if you ain't into that. You've been warned. **

They swarm: Hundreds, thousands of the enemy. They know no respite. Kill – it is their only command. They are obedient to the last.

The commander of the Iron Brigade, the Leaf's most prized combat unit, stands and waits for them. He ordered his men to wait behind the ridge line a few miles south of his position to guard the refugees of the fallen Waterfall Village. They leave him behind reluctantly. Each would die for him, but none will defy him.

He was their commander. His commands held the power of God to them.

So he stands alone, watching as the enemy draws near.

But he shows no fear – there's no fear to be had. He waits until they come. Jin, a missing-nin, is the first to reach the Leaf nin. Jin does not hesitate. He raises his blade, ready to strike. He wears the mark of the Uchiha.

Naruto frowns. An image of a young boy sitting alone on a dock, crestfallen, flashes before him. Jin notices that the feared "Hero of the Leaf" is distracted. His confidence surges. He sees only the blue in his target's eyes, like open sky. Then the black comes. His body cut in twain.

The commander roars, frightening the few who can hear the terrible sound. But there is no sound as dozens of shadow clones phase into existence – his mastery of the shadow clone jutsu complete.

Each of his doppelgangers knows what to do.

Fists collide with flesh, bones are crushed from the impact. Kunai cuts through the air, blood rains down in torrents, the death throttle of men, the clash of metal, recedes into the din.

All he hears now is the beating of his own heart. Thump. Thump. Thump. A shinobi flies towards him, sword drawn. His eyes show only hate and contempt. His head comes off easily; Naruto's deft reply to such impudent eyes.

Suddenly, the world comes into perfect clarity for Naruto. His senses are heightened, the thrill of the kill energizing him. He sees the beads of sweat, the rivulets of blood, the constricted pupils, the flying limbs, the flies buzzing through the air – he sees everything.

He smells the sweet, iron scent of blood, the bile bubbling from torn abdomens, the wildflowers growing on the hills beyond.

But he only hears the beating of his own heart.

Another enemy springs from the ground. The young chuunin does not have the chance to scream before his chest cavity is ripped asunder by wind blades. In the land of Sand, Naruto was known for his wind-based attacks – they called him Storm Rider for he rode the tempest.

A dozen of the enemy stare in horror as their intestines fall to the ground, the wretched wet sound booming in their ears. The tempest has landed.

Naruto sees the dead littering the field, but the enemy is many and much more will need to die before this battle is done. He concentrates chakra below his feet, infusing his wind element into the mix. Within a single breath, his body is lifted off the ground by a few inches. Beneath his feet are miniature whirlwinds. He leans forward – and he flies, streaking through the masses with uncanny speed – only the rushing wind can be heard.

Until he completes the jutsu – then all is silent.

The enemy stops their attack, confused by the feeling of the cool breeze and streaks of bright yellow flashing before their eyes.

"What's happening?" asks another young chuunin.

The answer comes – in the gurgling of blood.

Men began gripping their necks, trying to stem the gushing blood from the slits in their throats. They could not know that the Storm Rider had sped through their ranks, killing them before their body could react. They could not know that he was able to create a vortex, which enabled him to drill through the air at speeds unheard of. They could not know that he could use his vortex jutsu in combination with a wind-based attack. An attack that created virtual whips of chakra infused air that could slice through flesh on the cellular level.

They could not know that it took him nearly a decade to master, the Rasengan being the first step. They were dying - dying by the multitudes – and that was all would ever know of Naruto's feared Tempest technique.

Sasuke grimaced from the distance.

Even with his cursed eyes, he could not keep up with Naruto's attack. His speed was unnatural. Hundreds of his army was being slaughtered, and the battle had only just begun.

He had gotten stronger – always stronger. Sasuke did not want to admit it, but he could not defeat his friend with strength alone.

But he could defeat his friend with guile.

Naruto was a soft fool. Slowly, Sasuke began to smirk as he went through the hand signs – the chakra slowly building.

The Uchiha needed the Storm Rider, the Hurricane of the Leaf, the Hero of the Valley to be distracted if his plan was to work. He needed the fool to fight.

So he sent an army against the Waterfall village, knowing that the fool's nostalgia would bring him to the battle field. But Naruto had his blasted brigade, the feared Iron Brigade that had felled the bijuu army of the Akatsuki.

He needed to separate the fool from his army. The refugees had proven their worth. Protect the innocent villagers with your army and fight the enemy alone. What a brave and heroic fool Naruto had become. So predictable. .

The final hand sign completed, Sasuke uttered a single word: boom.

Naruto felt the searing heat engulf his being before it consumed him. Poof. The shadow clone was dispelled, transmitting the sensation of immolation to his master. A moment later, the world went white. It came in quick succession, the sound of men screaming, writhing in pain, then a deafening roar. Naruto quickly looked up from his kill and saw that all around him, the enemy had stopped fighting. They were clawing at their chests, crying out, screaming, hacking - dying. He could feel the pull of chakra. Nearby, he saw a young shinobi tear open his uniform, revealing a tattoo. No, not a tattoo…a seal.

Naruto eyes went wide. He knew that seal – he helped create it after all. A chakra bomb.

The young shinobi combusted into a fiery ball, incinerating those near him, but Naruto was long gone by then. But no matter how fast he went, he could not escape the sea of human mines.

He knew already that he had no route of escape. He only had a second before the fury would catch up to him, and not even his healing abilities would be able save him from the holocaust to come.

Accepting fate, he stops. He glances over to the east, feeling a familiar and haunting presence. He sees the Uchiha in the distance, his red eyes clearly visible as is his smug expression.

"I win," the traitor mouths.

Naruto just glares in response.

…

Excruciating pain floods his body, but only for an instant.


	5. Sad Place

**Chapter 5: Sad Place**

Mihoshi sees the distant look in her father's eyes. He's far away again…in the sad place. She does not know the terrible tragedies of her father's life – he would never speak of the past – but she could feel the great sadness that had been left behind. He was in pain, more so as he neared the place that had been his home.

She wants to run to him and wrap her arms around his lean neck, but she is her father's daughter. She wills her heart from breaking and steels herself with a slow, drawn out breath. Only Roo notices, his eyes ever seeing. Mihoshi feels her brother's worry, her heart more sensitive than any Hyuuga's byakugan, but ignores him. Instead, she focuses all her attention on her father. She traces the line of sight from his eyes to his left hand, the scorched tissue slowly being revealed as the sleeve is dragged down by gravity.

His eyes linger, just for a moment, before he slides the sleeve back up his wrist, covering the ruined flesh. A tiny brow begins to furrow. Why does daddy hide it from them, his scars? Memories of days past flood her precocious mind. 

"Aren't you hot daddy? Why don't you take off your jacket?" She would ask. 

"What?! Are you kidding, it's freezing out here." He would reply, even on the most humid and muggy of days. 

"Daddy, you shouldn't be swimming with your clothes on!"

"But then I'd be naked and that would just be wrong honey." He almost drowned, only a summoned toad had saved him from such an ignoble death. 

And a thousand more questions followed, along with a thousand more excuses. Still, none of his brood could learn any more of their father's strange habit. That is, until the pink-haired lady came. Mihoshi thought perhaps the shinobi who seemed to be eyeing her father would know his secret. 

"Hey pink-haired lady," she squeaks, "how do you know my daddy?"

Sakura stares at the young girl for a moment, a strange expression taking root. "Pink-haired lady?" Sakura parrots. Mihoshi was confused by this, but she would not be distracted from her pursuit. "So?" Mihoshi huffs, her lips pouting. Sakura smiles. "She's so much like him," she thinks to herself. Taking the young girl into her arms, she replies, "We were teammates many years ago, when your father was about Roo's age." 

Thinking that she had fulfilled her civil obligations, Mihoshi plowed ahead with the question that was on the minds of all her siblings. "What happened to my daddy? His arm it's all burnt." 

Sakura was startled by the question to say the least. Suddenly Sakura had the most intense urge to weep, to confess her soul to this little girl. She wanted to cry out and profess all the events of their lives, as if speaking the words would heal the rift between her and the man she still loved. 

She wanted to tell Mihoshi of Sasuke, Team 7, and the battles they fought. She wanted to tell her how she fell in love with Naruto, and how she lost his heart on a certain black day. She wanted to tell the young girl how her heart had shriveled to almost nothing when he had married Hinata, and later Temari. She wanted to tell her that she had spent many nights with only a bottle of sake and a sharpened kunai, wondering if she should just end her misery with a quick flick of the wrist. 

But the words are dragged back down her gullet by an invisible hand. With struggle, she whispers, "Your daddy got hurt a long time ago. And he's still hurting, but in his heart. Do you understand?"

Mihoshi, though young, understands misery. She does not know why the sky is blue, or why the water flows, but she understand loss and heartache. Though she does not remember her mother, she feels the emptiness where the lady in the photos should be.

She also feels her brother and sister's pain – for they remember what it was like to have a mother. So yes, she understands what the Pink-haired lady was trying to say. She lacks the words to articulate her feelings. So instead, Mihoshi nods, a tear trickling down the side of her cheek.

"Mihoshi, come here."

The voice is instantly recognized, but alien at the same time. It's harsh and cold, low in volume, but booming in intent – a voice not to be denied. Sakura lowers herself, allowing the little girl to jump from her arms and run to her father. As Mihoshi reaches for his hand, Naruto's eyes train upon the medic-nin, his glare pouring forth with an intensity that could rival the sun. No words are exchanged, only a look. Stay away his eyes read. He turns away, his daughter in tow. 

Mihoshi wants to question her father's anger, but knows when to be silent. She is like her mother this way. To ease the rising tension between the two, Naruto speaks: "Princess, it's time you meet your grandmother." 

Mihoshi turns her head and stares at her father, surprise in her eyes. 

"I have a grandmother?"


	6. Tears and Memories

**AN: **So what's up with all the alerts and no reviews? C'mon folks. I have an ego that needs to be fed. Oh well. I will get linear soon, but I like these side stories.

**Chapter : Tears and Memories**

Sakura watches as father and daughter walk away, leaving her behind. She is always left behind. Looking to the ground, she thinks of the days when life was simpler. When they were young and all their problems were found outside the walls of the village, but now, the enemies they face were the ones inside.

Regret, sorrow, and anger: enemies that would not die for them.

Sakura struggles to rein in her emotions, only a single tear escape – it contains a single memory.

* * *

"I can fly."

Sakura was exhausted. Tsunade had her working double shifts at the hospital, while going full force with her training. Sure, she had promised herself that she would be nicer to him since he came back from his three year training journey, and genuinely glad to spend time with him, but she was stressed out. For the past couple of weeks, her life revolved around a tortuous cycle of grueling exercises, brutal combat and bed pans.

She was worn, raw, and in desperate need of sleep. She was in no shape to deal with a bright eyed Naruto. So without any thought to the consequences, Sakura replied flippantly, "No you can't, now leave me alone, I'm busy."

If she was paying attention, Sakura would have noticed the brief curl of his lips, the slight strain in his eyes. Instead, all she saw was the goofy grin, the slanted eyes, and the chuckling.

Seemingly undeterred, Naruto pressed on, "I really can. I learned how. It's really awesome, so let me show you."

Shinobi could do a great many things, but flying was not one of them, so the medic nin thought. Sakura had intended to inquire further, but the shrill chirps of her pager went off, eliciting a barrage of curses from the normally reserved young lady.

For weeks, the pager had been a source of irritation and frustration for Sakura. It was like a leash to her, a means for her master to summon her at her whim – a mobile prison. It had gotten so bad that a mere chirp could send her into a violent rage. But for today, her beeper only increased her agitation, which unbeknownst to her, would result in tragedy. As she fumbled in her bag, looking for her much maligned pager, she exhaled, "I don't have time for childish games Naruto, why don't you go bother someone else."

She didn't notice the dejected look or even that he stopped walking along side her. Sakura just kept walking towards the hospital, cursing the day she asked the Hokage to accept her as a student.

His heart ached.

It was not so much the attitude that had cut him, but the disbelief. Weren't they friends? How could she just discount him like that? Hadn't he mastered the Rasengan – an A-class Jutsu invented by the Fourth Hokage at the age of 12? Hadn't he obtained the summoning contract of the great Toad tribe, a feat that even Sakura had not achieved?

Time and time again, hadn't he proved that he was capable of more? So then why could she not trust him to do it again?

"What's wrong, Naruto?"

Naruto looked up and was surprised to see pale lavender eyes staring back. "Hinata?" he responded, his words catching in the back of his throat, startled by her close proximity to his face. In all the years that he had known her, she had never been so close to him, not without fainting anyway.

But today, she was a mere fist away, her breath gently tickling his nose, the heat of her body radiating off his skin. He didn't know why, but Naruto was blushing and could feel it in his cheeks.

As Naruto pondered the strange physical reaction to his friend, Hinata was trying to hide her swelling anger. She had watched the whole exchange from the corner and was enraged by Sakura's action.

"How could she not see his pain?" Hinata screamed mentally. She knew that Naruto had achieved the impossible so many times before. So when he said he could fly, Hinata genuinely believed him. Why couldn't Sakura?

What came next surprised both of them.

As if an unseen force had taken control of her lips, Hinata uttered the words: "I believe you can fly." At first, Naruto's only response was a blank stare. Then slowly, the corner of his lip began to twitch and slowly, it began to stretch, until it formed a grin that nearly split his face in two.

His back straightened. His eyes brightened. Life seemed to fill his being renewed.

"Really? Hey, do you trust me?" he spoke, his eyes sparkling in the sun.

Hinata struggled to keep conscious. Her heart raced, her breathing deepened. As the color returned to his cheeks, it seemed like the color drained from hers. He was her love, one and only, and she was being overwhelmed by the emotional rollercoaster of being in his presence.

But as she felt the familiar sensation of the world receding, a voice in the back of her mind began to rumble. "Don't…"

And without knowing why, Hinata felt a surge of strength that she had never known. All she knew was that she wanted to stay awake – and was going to fight to be in the world at that moment – with him. The world exploded into a myriad of sensations as she shook of the gloom that had threatened to consume her.

She was met with shimmering blue pools deeper than the ocean. And without really understanding the words coming out of her mouth, she replied, "with my life."

Naruto looked at her with a puzzled expression. He was taken back a bit by her seemingly overdramatic remark, but was nonetheless pleased at how accommodating his friend was. So in an instant, he took her hand into his and began to run, dragging her with him.

Hinata yelped as she felt her momentum shift forward, but she had no time to be afraid. Within moments, she was speeding along the rooftops of the village, racing towards the Hokage Monument. The world began to blur past her, a phenomenon she could only contribute to Naruto's amazing speed.

She watched in awe as Naruto bit into his thumb and wiped the blood on the seal that ran along his pant leg. In a puff of smoke, a large orange toad appeared. "Wazzup bro," the summons croaked, then his large amphibian eyes roved over to the dangling Hinata, "hey, who's the chick?"

Ignoring the question, Naruto just looked at his friend, smirking, and said, "I need an entrance." It took only a moment for the great warrior toad to understand his friend's request. "Gotcha," the toad winked, before flashing through a series of hand signs.

Hinata, staying silent throughout this whole surreal episode, was stunned to see nearly a dozen summoned toads dotting a trail to the Hokage monument. She was even more surprised when Naruto, with one quick movement, swept her into his arms.

Before she could ask, he replied, "It's easier this way." Still pondering his words, Hinata did not notice Naruto's foot landing on Gamikichi's back. However, she did feel gravity's grip as they rocketed into the air.

For a second, Hinata was in a state of panic, confused at the maddening pace of changes her body was experiencing. First they were running along the rooftops and now they seemed to by flying into the air. She felt weightless, but only for a moment, before gravity had once again claimed its prize. She opened her eyes, which had clamped shut during their initial catapult, and saw the ground speeding towards them.

A nameless toad sprung into the air, hurling towards them. Naruto shifted his body so both his legs were crouched towards his body. As the mighty toad neared them, it did the same, but managed to flip its body in mid air so that its legs were facing the sky.

Only when they were about to make impact did Hinata understand what was going on. She squealed in near delight as Naruto, landing right on top of the toad's massive webbed feet, was launched back into the air with dizzying speed.

Naruto was using the toad both as a stepping stone and rocket booster, using their powerful legs to jettison him further into the atmosphere.

Four times they repeated this process, and four times Hinata squealed, reveling in the rush that ensued. She felt like she was flying. Was this what he meant before? Naruto saw the look in her eyes and for some reason, could understand its meaning.

"No" he yelled above the rushing wind. "It gets better," he added.

And then with a thunderous crash, they landed on top of the head of the Fifth Hokage, leaving a sizable crater in their wake. When the dust settled, Naruto spied his handiwork and grinned. "Well, I guess I'm going to have to pay for that," he chuckled.

Hinata was too stunned to talk. In less than a minute, they had traversed nearly three miles in distance and roughly ten thousand feet into the air. How could anyone have so much speed and power to perform such a feat?

Her answer came in a soft and gentle laughter from the man standing behind her. "Yeah, it's crazy what three years can do." Hinata tore her gaze from the village below and towards the man that she had loved for such a long time, his visage forever etched into her heart.

He was smiling at her, his chest rising and falling in pace with his breathing. His skin, covered in a light layer of perspiration, seemed to sheen in the noon day sun; his hair, wild and bright. She wanted to reach out and touch him, to feel him, but her hands were hugged close to her ample form, too afraid of reaching out for her dream.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"What?" she replied, snapping out of her spiral towards gloom.

"To fly," he winked back.

A hesitant moment, but then a confident look. "Hai," she replied, her hands dropping to her side.

With a quick step, he stood next to her, his body pressed against hers, his left arm wrapping around her slender waist.

Hinata's face nearly burned from the blood rush. He was so close. His warmth, his scent, his touch, she felt it all and it nearly broke the poor girl, but she refused to give in to her body's betrayal.

"I will not faint!"

"I hope not."

Hinata was speechless, her eyes wide and avoiding his probing look. "Did I just say that out loud?" she mentally gasped. Naruto only chuckled.

"Whatever you do, don't look down," he whispered into her ear, sending shivers down the entirety of her well defined body, a fact that had been noticed by the blond shinobi.

And right on cue, Hinata looked down and saw only a ten thousand foot drop to the unforgiving ground below. She shrieked and instinctively clamped her arms around Naruto's neck, effectively cutting off his air.

"Can't breath…"

Realizing the consequence of her action, Hinata loosened her grip, but not by much. When enough air was coursing through his windpipe to produce sounds, Naruto spoke, "I can channel air through my Rasengan. I don't actually know the physics behind it, but from what Shikamaru tells me, my Rasengan sucks in air to create pressure that I can manipulate. So with it, I can either make really cool jutsus that can crush boulders or…"

"…fly," Hinata whispered, finishing Naruto's sentence.

And for a reason that he could not fathom, Naruto blushed. "Yeah," he stuttered, his eyes finally locking onto hers. Naruto could feel something tugging in the back of his head, a sense of something yet to come, but pushed it aside. He was a man of action and did not dwell on such things.

And as a man of action, he wanted to act. With a grin, he asked, "So you ready to really fly?" Hinata could tell by the look of mischief in his eyes that he was going to do something crazy and for the first time in her life, Hinata was going to be a part of it. She remembered all the pranks he had pulled when they were children, she could still see him during those bygone years as he sprung from building to building, escaping the clutches of the chuunin guards. She giggled at the memories.

Naruto just gave her a confused look, but it was quickly erased when Hinata's arms wrapped around his neck, her head nestled in the crook of his neck. "I want to fly," she said, her lips rubbing into his flesh as the words reverberated throughout his being.

Instinctively, Naruto's grip on Hinata tightened. He savored the closeness. As an orphan, he had never known such intimacy. For the most part, the only physical contact he ever received was violent in nature. Sure, over the years, he had received pats on the back, his hair ruffled, and the occasional hug from Sakura, but he never really felt close to anyone until he met Tsunade.

The old woman had more than one occasion held him close and for the first time, Naruto could imagine what it was like to be held by a mother. It was the single brightest moment of his life.

Until now. He didn't understand it, but this was different from Tsunade's embrace. It felt more intimate, more affectionate, just more of everything.

But he didn't dwell on such thoughts for he was a man of action, and so – he acted. "Let's fly," he whispered back to her before launching them into the air. Hinata could feel the air rush past her at dizzying speed, the roar of the winds passing her ear.

She opened her eyes and could see the clouds passing by, the birds soaring through the sky, and an endless blue. She felt pure joy in her heart, a joy that bubbled into a laughter that could be heard for miles.

For Naruto, the sound of her glee was like a narcotic. He wanted more of it. Without further thought to the consequences, Naruto changed direction and headed towards the Hokage Tower, barreling through the air like a demon on the winds, Hinata's laughter ever present.

* * *

Tsunade was not having a good day.

She was having a terrible day and did not want to deal with a bitchy apprentice. "It was so much better working with men," the Hokage thought as Sakura vented her frustration over the work schedule. But as Sakura was running down the list of her gripes, a blip of yellow had caught her eye.

The Hokage, sipping her wonderfully black coffee, was about to ask why her apprentice had stopped in mid-sentence when she was hit by what seemed like a wall of condense air, her ears filling with a boom unlike anything she had ever heard of before.

Her amble bosoms were drenched with hot coffee, as well as the annual budget folder for the ANBU. Portraits hanging on the walls had fallen, shattering the glass, sending the shards all across the floor. Sakura was dazed but not the Hokage. With lightening speed, she was outside the window, hurling a slew of insults and tirades that were not befitting a woman of her stature – but still it flowed from her mouth. Sakura, however, was only able to gleam off five of the Hokage's words from her stupor: "YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS UZUMAKI!"

"Naruto?" Sakura inquired, her eyes scanning the chaos that had become the Hokage's office. Tsunade, turning her head away from the window replied, "Yeah, you know. Ever since that idiot learned how to fly, he's been causing real mischief. This isn't the first time he did that fly by thing."

And as if the Hokage's anger was dissipating from her along with the coffee on her cleavage, she added, a slight smirk adorning her face, "but it's the first time he actually did it with a sonic boom. That kid, he's always full of surprises."

"Naruto can fly?" Sakura asked with a hint of fear laced in her words. The Hokage noticed it the moment her apprentice had spoke. Turning her whole body to face the young girl, Tsunade asked, "Didn't you know? I was sure that you'd be the next person he would tell after me."

Sakura's expression became crestfallen, her gaze drifting towards the floor. "Oh," Tsunade replied, understanding the full weight of Sakura's mistake even before she did. Tsunade then returned her gaze towards the window, an errant thought escaping her lips. "Is this how you felt you old fool?"



But before Sakura could inquire the meaning behind her master's cryptic remark, the Hokage added, "so that would explain why he's flying with Hinata and not you."

Sakura was stunned into silence, but only for a moment. She dashed towards the window and peered out into the distance, and true enough, she could see Naruto embracing another girl, a girl with long purple hair, as they soared through the sky in long, seemingly elegant, slopes.

It was only at that moment, did she hear it: laughter carried on the winds, laughter born out of sheer joy, laughter shared between the two. And for a reason that Sakura could not quite fathom, her heart shattered.


	7. Homecoming

**Chapter 7: Homecoming**

The creaking sound of old hinges draws her attention to the door, where she sees his shimmering blue eyes piercing through the dim veil that had settled in for the night. She blinks for a moment, not believing what her eyes are telling her to be true. She dares not lend herself to hope. It must be a dream.

She asks herself one question: "Would he really come back?"

As if commanded by some foreign presence, she stumbles towards him, her hand stretching out, and tears blurring her vision.

The seconds pass and still he remains. Her heart begins to thump in her chest. She feels joy and heartache all at once. Her brother has seemingly returned – but the reason for his return hangs heavy in the air.

She shakes her head and forces – for a moment – down the terrible pain and instead focuses on the man before her, barely just out of reach.

Her outstretched fingers hover just short of his chest. Fear holds her back, her hand begins to tremble. Is this a dream?

Naruto can feel her anxiety rising; his heart growing heavier for it. He knows that his self-imposed exile would hurt the ones he cared for most in life, but to see their suffering first-hand, like a knife to his heart.

He closes the distance between them and engulfs her tiny figure with his arms. He does not weep, but presses tightly against the woman he considers a sister, expressing to her his grief and apology. One word slips past his reticent lips: "Shizune."

Shizune weeps into his chest as her arms wrap around his midsection. She understands his actions completely and forgives him without hesitation, her tears absolving him of any past transgressions.

They stood there in the hallway of her home, pouring out their sorrow and happiness in silence. But it would not last.

Mihoshi chirps, "hey, who is this daddy?"

Shizune stares at the source of the question and sees a little girl with the most brilliant blonde hairs, like rays of sunshine. Two mismatched color eyes stare back, waiting impatiently for a response.

From nowhere, Roo appears next to his little sister. With incredible speed, he pinches the left side of her face, eliciting a painful squeal. "Owww you dummy, what was that for?" she cries out, rubbing her offended flesh.

Roo just gives her a look only an older brother could command, silencing the normally loud girl. He returns his attention to Shizune and bows deeply. "Hello Auntie. Please excuse Miho's rude behavior."

His manner is reserve, calm, so much like his mother. Shizune smiles at the memories of a young Hinata, trying to teach Naruto etiquette. She bends down and wraps her arms around the boy, whispering, "you have grown my precious nephew,"

As Roo introduces Shizune to the rest of Naruto's brood, the patriarch stands in silent contemplation, his attention fixed upon the door across the hallway. He can feel her presence, the dimming light of her life force. Though he doesn't show it, his fear rises. He is no doctor, but he understands death—he is after all a slayer of men—and in his heart, he could feel her dying.

"Take me to her," he quietly says.

Shizune feels despair at his words, but she forces it back down into the pit. "Be strong," she commands herself. Finding her resolve, she grabs his hand and leads him down the hallway to a non-descript door.

She stands to the side and bows her head, still no word spoken. Naruto keeps his gaze on her for a few moments longer. He can feel his strength ebbing away into the ether. Small tendrils of fear begin to entangle his heart.

He doesn't want to see what is behind the door, but he is no longer a child. He cannot runaway or seek refuge in the arms of his sister – not anymore. So with bated breath, he steels himself, grips the door knob, and pushes forward with eyes wide opened.

What he sees is an empty room. He blinks and is still. He takes in the room.

The room is small and dimly lit. The smell of antiseptics and potpourri hang in the air. Uzumaki Naruto stands alone and feels every bit of it.

His eyes wander to the bed. It's small and covered with a quilt; its floral pattern reminds him of the tapestries that once hung in the office of the Hokage.

Next to the bed is a single night stand. On top sits a single picture frame. He picks it up and is surprised to see a photograph of him as a young boy, sitting with Sakura, Jiraiya, and Shizune on the beach.

He remembers that day. It was the day Jiraiya, his mentor, proposed to the Hokage. Naruto stifles a chuckle as he recalls the Hokage's reaction: she punched him clear across the way. It was her way of saying yes back in those days. Jiraiya died shortly after that day, in a far away country.

Some wounds still will not heal.

His frown deepens as he catches the scent of ointment and medicinal herbs. He hears the shuffling of feet and looks over to see Sakura escorting a frail old woman from what appears to be the water closet.

His heart skips a beat, his breathing shallows.

He dreads the words passing over Sakura's lips. "Tsunade-sama. I have very good news for you. Naruto has come back home."

There was no response, just a vacant look. The old woman stares at some distant point, oblivious to her guest.

He can feel his heart rupturing, the oppressive weight pressing against his lungs. "This cannot be Tsunade," he thinks to himself. He remembers the titan in all her glory. She stood taller than most men, with bosoms as ample as the fields of the Hidden Leaf village. She was picturesque; she was beautiful; she was everything a woman should be. So how could this drooping dandelion be the mighty Rose of legend?

But Naruto is no fool. He knows that her youthful appearance had been a product of the skillful application of her medical jutsu. She was old and as such could not hold the illusion any longer. Still, he didn't want to see her in such a state. He silently curses the gods for their cruelty. How could anyone, divine or mortal, take away the dignity and majesty that the Hokage once possessed?

Sakura whispers something to him, but he was too far lost in his thoughts to hear her, his blank stare telling her so.

So she repeats herself: "Her mind is slipping. She doesn't have much time left." Naruto, coming to his senses, only nods. He's too numb to do anything else.

They hover over the old woman for what seems like an eternity, his eyes never wavering from her lifeless expression. With his heightened vision, Naruto could see every blood vessel through her wrinkled, translucent skin; every crevice etched into her brow, every sign telling him the end was near.

He wants to weep but cannot. He has no more tears left to shed. His guilt is overwhelming, but still he stands, his expression showing none of his sorrow and grief. Sakura, not knowing how else to reach him, recounts the Hokage's decline.

"It happened shortly after you left. She started to forget the small things, forgetting meetings and names. We didn't think anything of it at the time. It was Shizune who noticed it first. Her reactions were getting slower, and her chakra control started to decline. Then one day, we found the Hokage, aged and withered, lying in her bed. Afterwards, she managed to regain her chakra control to sustain the jutsu that kept her young, but her powers were steadily deteriorating. About three month ago, she fell into this vegetative state."

His shoulders feel heavy, he can barely breathe. He wants to drop to the ground, but wills himself to stand. He needs to know, but the words do not come easily for him.

Summoning his courage, Naruto croaks, "was it, was it, because of me?" His words hang heavy in the air, saturating it with his anxiety. Sakura can't help but to stare at the man standing next to her. He was perhaps the strongest shinobi the world had ever known. His very presence could quell armies. To her, he seemed like a child, a frightened child.

His brow begins to perspire, the guilt steadily growing. Does the silence means yes? Was he the cause of this? Sakura sees his anxiety rise and moves to ease his pain.

"No, Naruto. It wasn't you. Her condition is a side effect of her regeneration jutsu. Though it speeds the healing process during the battle, it also causes irrevocable harm to her genetic structure. She was able to stave off the worst of her condition for decades, but, the damage grew too extensive for even her legendary abilities to cope with."

Naruto doesn't feel relief, though he finds himself able to breathe again. "How long?" he asks, dreading the answer.

"A few days, maybe," she replies, her voice steady and even, "if we do not wake her."

Naruto raises his brow. He doesn't understand her meaning. Sakura closes her eyes and concentrates. She remembers her master's final words.

He watches Sakura as her hands form seals to an unfamiliar jutsu. From the pattern, it occurs to him that she's going to release chakra from a blood seal, but for what purpose?

Sakura sees his confusion. She speaks the final words of the Hokage before she fell into darkness.

"I want to speak to my boy one last time."

He now understands the purpose of the jutsu. He's outraged. "That would kill her," he says coldly, his eyes turning a demonic red.

For the third time in his life, he considers killing his former teammate and love.

She does not turn away from his terrible glare and meets him head on. "Yes, it will. But this is what she wants. She wants to say good bye to you. Would you deny her that Naruto? Could you deny her that?" Naruto does not respond; his eyes continuing their onslaught against hers.

For a moment, Sakura believes that he may actually try to stop her, but his eyes begin to waiver. Soon, he looks away, the battle lost. He knows that it would be wrong to deny Tsunade her final wish. He spites the gods for it.

Naruto prepares himself. He has killed many and witnessed many more perish in battle, but for him to see the final moments of his beloved Hokage – it's almost too much for him to bear. He breathes deep, focusing on the moment. He puts his fears behind him. He will fulfill his duty, as a son should do for his mother – he loved her so.

He releases her hand. She forms the final seal. Her hand glows with chakra. She reaches over and taps the seal on Tsunade's forehead.

Naruto sees the chakra infusing into the seal, unlocking its power. He sees streams of the ancient writing flowing from the released seal, wrapping around her body like tendrils from some mythical creature.

Color returns to the withered cheeks of the Hokage. Naruto could feel the power once again stirring within her. He sees Tsunade's eyes begin to spark with life.

Sakura, finished with her task, makes her way to the door. She stops at his side. She moves her hand forward, her outstretched finger brushing against his hand. He makes no sign of retreat from her touch.

Her happiness is muted however. She tells him that he only has an hour before she passes.

"Make the best of it," she whispers, the tears filling her eyes. She leaves in hurry. When the door is shut, she breaks down and weeps in to her hands.

Time passes, but she doesn't know how much has passed until she feels a gentle tug of her pink hair. She looks up and sees a familiar face. The young girl with golden blonde hair smiles at her. "Don't cry Pink-haired lady. It'll be okay."

Inside the room, a moment passes before Tsunade recovers from the haze that had entombed her mind. Immediately, she's drawn to a familiar presence.

She recognizes his face, her expression revealing such joy. "Come here boy, I have missed you so much," she speaks with a voice that is hoarse and low.

Her hand reaches out, hoping that time has healed the rift that had grown between them. He hesitates. His anger still lingers like a festering wound. How many sleepless nights did he endure, longing to feel for the warmth that only his wife could provide? How many times has he cursed the Hokage's name for allowing his wife to die?

But his heart yearns to feel the touch of the woman he considers his mother.

In his periphery, he sees strands of golden hair fluttering in the wind. He doesn't make a move, fearing that to do so would wake him from this dream. He feels the flesh of his earlobe tingle with sensation, as if a slight breeze had just grazed him there. A voice whispers in his ear. "Go to her." He knows that it is impossible, but for a moment, he thinks he hears her voice – the voice of his desert princess. So he acts.

He smiles for her, a gift he rarely gives to anyone outside of his family, but then again, Tsunade was always family to him.

Tsunade's heart fills with joy, rejuvenating her spirit. With determination, she wills her arms to move, for she needs to hold her boy one last time.

Naruto watches in pain as he sees her struggle to do something as simple as stretching out her hand, a herculean task now for the once powerful warrior.

He notices her fingers. They resemble gnarled twigs, covered with blotches of pigments. They reach out for him. He holds his breath, hoping that her delicate digits do not break from the pressure of her touch.

Whatever anger or malice that he had held was gone now, melted under the sheer power of his grief. He wants to cry. He wants to weep. He wants to throw himself at her feet and beg for forgiveness. All the years that they had been apart, forced upon them by his stupid wounded pride.

But he does none of those things, for Uzumaki Naruto is a hard man now. He's killed too many, survived too many battles for him to display such emotions. The part of him that could express such sorrow had died with Temari.

Instead, he waits patiently for Tsunade to caress his cheeks. It seems like ages, but she finally makes contact. He feels the brittle nails raking across his skin.

His brow furrows. The demon inside him gave Naruto not only tremendous power, but senses that went beyond human. From her touch, all is revealed to him. There was no power in her fingers, no flow of chakra to speak of. Hands that had once healed legions and took down city walls had become as frail as icicles, and just as cold.

She was dying. He knew that coming in. Sakura had told him long before. But there was always a chance that it was all a ruse, a scheme to get him home.

Such hopes were dashed the moment she placed a motherly hand on his cheek. How he wishes he could cry, for her sake at least.

He didn't want her to cry alone, to be the only one shedding tears. She cries alone anyway, much too his everlasting shame.

"Naruto, is that really you?"

He's unnerved. He remembers all the times that she had bellowed his name. She was a lioness with a roar to match. But now, her voice had lost its power. It seemed hollow, weak, like a slow wind passing through a reed.

"Yes, it's me."

Her eyes widens with joy, his shame burns with greater intensity. She smiles, the lines in her face deepens into ravines.

He gently runs his fingers through her hair; the feel is coarse and dry. His eyes move rapidly, trying to burn every detail of her visage into his memory.

"Do you forgive me Naruto?"

Her question brings him back from his thoughts. He doesn't know how to answer her. His heart feels the dull ache of an old wound. He remembers that day, the day he left the village.

"Get out of my way."

The Hokage had no intention of moving. She knew that she could not defeat him, let alone prevent him from leaving, but she stood steadfast. She could not lose another loved one – not him.

"Naruto, I won't let you leave. You mean too much to me."

It started out as a slow rumble, but the sound eventually gained in volume, until the man's laughter roared past his lips. His suffering was palpable. Just as sudden, the laughter stopped. He glared at the woman before him.

"So you care about me now…"

Tsunade cried out, "Of course, you mean more to me than my own life Naruto. Can't you see that?"

His fist clenched shut, shaking with anger. He roared, "**THEN WHY DID YOU LEAVE HER TO DIE!?**"

The Hokage, for a moment, can feel the despair welling in her chest. She knows that it was her decision that had led to Temari's demise, but she pushes down the guilt. Her resolve refortified. She fires back, "Temari was a shinobi. She knew her duty. She died defending her village…"

Cutting her off, Naruto screams, "She died because of you!"

Tsunade feels his wrath, so does the rest of the village. She wants to speak, but the Hokage finds her throat refusing to obey her commands.

She looks into his eyes and sees something that sparks fear in her: submission. Gone was the vibrancy and determination that was always present in his eyes, the determination to pursue impossible dreams, the determination to protect all those for whom he loved - in its stead, resignation.

"I'm done with you and this village."

The words are drawn out and low, barely audible to the Hokage and her guards. But she hears them and her heart breaks – she knows that she has lost him.

She hopes that another word could dissuade him from his path, but the sight of his raised hand ends such hopes.

She feels the familiar movement of chakra in the air; the leaves rustling in the swirling air. Her hope dies as she watches the chakra sphere emerge from his palm.

No more words are exchanged, only one last glance between mother and son.

He says his goodbye in the way he knows best, the earth shakes as he strikes the ground with his Rasengan.

She can feel the arms of her men take hold of her body. Fools! Why do they try to save a failure like her? Let her die and be done with it.

How can she still lead if she could not even protect her son?

But her guards think none of these things for they have a duty to uphold. With all their might, her body is flung out of the path of destruction. She's saved, but barely.

The explosion rocks the village, its blast wave knocking the crowd that had gathered onto their backs.

The air is filled with choking dust, her eyes stinging from the offending particles, but she can still make out his form.

He walks past her. She reaches out her hand, hoping to touch him once more, but her fingers only graze the fabric of his cloak. The man doesn't pause, nor does he look back. He can hear her tears dragging along her skin. He can smell the pain emanating from her body. He knows that he's hurting her, some small part of him relishes in her anguish.

But mostly, he feels empty, as if a deep void had replaced his heart, consuming all that had been Uzumaki Naruto.

His mind blanks. He feels something pressing against his skin. He looks down and sees her trembling hand on his. He looks up and finds her gaze steady upon him.

He hasn't answered her yet. He still doesn't know what to say. It was Tsunade who had sent Temari of the Sand on an impossible mission, knowing that she had a family to raise, his family. Of all the shinobi in the village, why her? Naruto opens his mouth, making ready the verbal assault that he so desperately wants to release, but the scent of wild flowers holds his tongue.

Then he remembers Temari's words, the words she spoke during their wedding ceremony. "Don't live in the past; focus only on the here and now."

Naruto smiles.

"I missed you, so very much."

It's not the answer she was expecting, but her heart, for the first time in years feels lighter. Naruto has returned to her – her son has come home. They embrace for what seems like an eternity. Neither wishes for it to end.

Mihoshi's curiosity had gotten the better of her – again. She enters the room and sees her father hugging an old woman. She walks to them. They don't notice her. So she climbs on top of the bed and starts poking her father's shoulder.

"Daddy, who's the old lady?"

Naruto blinks in response. He's surprised to hear his daughter's voice. Breaking from their embrace, he looks and finds his daughter already sitting in front of Tsunade, giving her an inquiring look.

Tsunade offers the girl a warm smile. The little girl continues to examine her with an incredulous look, as if wondering how anyone could be so old. A slight laugh escapes her lips as she is reminded of how Naruto had looked when he learned that she had been chosen to become the Hokage: a precious memory.

Naruto, not missing a beat, introduces his daughter to her grandmother. Though they had never met, Mihoshi shows no trepidation. Instead, she lunges towards the old woman and embraces her as if they had known each other all their lives. Tsunade can only weep joyfully at the little girl's antics – so like her father.

Seeing Sakura at the doorway, Naruto motions for her to let his other children in. Roo, Tsu, and Rai walk in, single file, the look of worry and confusion adorning their faces. It had been a strange week for them.

One day, they were home on their farm. The next, they were traveling to a village leagues away.

And now, their little sister was hugging an old woman, a stranger to everyone but Roo, who remembers his Baa-chan.

Tsunade's eyes sweep over their adorable faces, her smile beams with love and affection. Naruto notices this and regrets keeping them away from her. Funny, he once vowed to live a life free of regrets. What a fool he was.

"Hokage-sama, I want you to meet your grandchildren." He points to his oldest. "I'm sure you remember Roo."

Tsunade opens up her arms, inviting him in. He accepts and soon they embrace. "You've grown so much," coos Tsunade. Roo begins to cry as he revels in her arms, long forgotten memories finding their way back to the light. "I've missed you Baa-chan," he answers back, nuzzling his face in the crevice of her neck.

Their reunion, however, is interrupted by his father's voice. "And this little one over here is my second oldest. She's named after one of my heroes." Naruto then turns to his daughter and tells her to introduce herself.

Tsunade watches as the young girl bows her head in a formal manner. She had been raised with proper manners, something unexpected from Naruto's progeny. It must have been Temari's influence.

"Greetings Hokage-sama. My name is Uzumaki Tsunade. Please to meet you." The Hokage's eyes began to quiver; she's surprised to say the least. "Am I still your hero?" she wonders silently.

For the past six years, she believed her son harbored only hatred for her. Now, she realizes that his love for her had never diminished.

"Hey granny, why are you crying?" Mihoshi asks with eyes wide as saucers. Tsunade takes a moment to collect herself. She pats the youngest on her head to reassure her. "I'm crying because I'm so happy to see my family again."

Little Tsunade cuts in, "Hey, you haven't met Rai yet." Tsunade's left eye brow arches slightly. She knew that Naruto had adopted a boy, but never discovered his name. Naruto laughs. He reaches over to his adopted son and picks him up. "This is my other boy. His name is Jiraiya."

Tsunade smiles, more like a smirk really. So you named him after a pervert she communicates with the glint of her eyes. Naruto responds in kind, "little Tsunade took quite a liking to him so I thought it was fitting to name him after my sensei."

Her smirk deepens. If only Jiraiya could be here, they both wish silently.

The night grows with the sound of their laughter, stories are exchanged, the world goes by and a family revels in the peace.

Then all was dark.

"Good night."


	8. Why can't you forgive, Naruto?

**Chapter 8: Why can't you forgive, Naruto?**

AN: Where's the love people? All these story alerts, but no reviews? A tortured writer I am. Oh well. Medicinal lullaby made me cry.

His mind is dull. He remembers standing before the casket of his beloved Tsunade, placing a single white rose on her person as his children wept beside him. He does not remember Shizune holding onto them, keeping them from following their father as he walked away towards a distant, but familiar ground. Only after he reaches the black obsidian stone does he remember the world.

He glares hard into the dark rock, trying to disintegrate it through sheer will alone. How he hated this black rock, this monument to the "heroes" of the village. He focuses on the carved leaf sigil representing the fallen. It reminds him of his failures to protect all those he loved.

There was Jiraiya and Iruka, both fell to Pein of the Akatsuki.

Chouji was killed by friendly fire during the fourth great shinobi war.

Tenten died at the second siege of Suna, along with Temari, his beloved mistress.

And then there was her, the one that had saved his heart from loneliness and despair, his miracle as he often called her. Her name was the one name that he could not utter, so profound was his pain.

As his mind begins to stumble towards the dark corners of his memory, his heighten sense of smell picks up the slightest hint of lavender in the air. He clenches his eyes shut, his body tenses. He struggles to keep control, but the scent grows stronger.

"Dammit," he grumbles, feeling his emotions getting the better of him.

His mind races with chaotic thoughts and fleeting images of purple hair flowing in the winds.

His cheek feels the touch of silky strands, wafting with her scent – it's heaven to him. But Naruto is a hard man now and will not give into his delusions. He grimaces as he forces back the memories into the darkness, willing the cold back into his heart.

"Are you okay?" a voice asks in concern.

Naruto opens his eyes, surprised that someone had caught him unaware. He curses his own weakness.

It takes a moment, but he finds his voice, his senses restored to fully potency.

"What do you want, Sakura?"

His voice is cold with an edge as sharp as a blade. It cuts her deeply, but she does not reveal her pain. She is accustomed to his cruelty and abuse. She accepts it as her punishment, for what she did to him all those years ago.

She would have let him revel in her anguish, but she had her duty to fulfill. As she made ready her speech, the one she had rehearsed a dozen times in her mind, she was cut short by the man before her.

"Tell the council that I leave with my family in the morning," he says.

She is not shocked by his response. Naruto was no longer the carefree fool with a dream that she had fallen in love with all those years ago. He had grown to become a hard and lethal killer, regretful of the life he had lived and resentful of the village that seemed to only take from him.

But Sakura had her duty and so presses on. "Your village needs you, Naruto. And this was Tsunade's final request, to make you Hokage in her place—"

"I am done here, Sakura," Naruto interjects, his eyes never wavering from the black stone.

"War is coming!" she blurts out, starting to lose her cool.

He does not respond.

"They've killed thousands so far, civilians and shinobi alike. So far, it's only been the outlying villages far to the western lands, but they're moving this way, destroying everything in their path."

A silence ensues, before Naruto begins to walk away. Sakura rushes past him and blocks his path. She's livid, but manages to keep control.

"A month ago, Suna and the Leaf sent out an expeditionary force to gather intelligence on the enemy. We've lost contact with them. Konohamaru was leading the mission, Naruto. He's been missing since last week, doesn't that mean anything to you?"

For a second, she sees the cold hard look in his eyes waver, but only for a second. Without a word uttered in response, Naruto turns and walks off, his back facing her once again.

Her rage explodes. "BASTARD!" she screams, "DOESN'T HE MEAN ANYTHING TO YOU?! HE'S OUT THERE BECAUSE HE WANTS TO BE LIKE HIS IDOL! CAN YOU JUST WALK AWAY FROM HIM, FROM US!?"

Naruto replies as he walks away, "He made his choice, now he has to live with it. It's no concern of mine."

Something within her snaps, just like before. She leaps at him, her fist cocked. Naruto senses the attack, but does nothing to defend himself. She grabs his shoulder and twirls him about with incredible force, almost giving the master shinobi whiplash. Only the force of her punch keeps him from twirling around in circles. He flies through the air.

Before he could land, Sakura flashes before him. She grabs him by the shirt, and with nearly all her might, slams him into the unforgiving ground. Her attack does not relent. Already, she is on top of him, her fists pummeling against his chest, her tears mixing with his blood.

Naruto knows his body is broken, but feels no pain. He can hear her breathing heavily, the damp smell of tears and blood fills his nostrils. He sees the contour of her body, but the swollen flesh makes it hard for him to keep his eyes open. She's straddling him, her pink hair hiding her face. She speaks.

"Why can't you forgive us? Why?"

Naruto begins to stir, his wounds already healing. With his strength returned, Naruto gently pushes Sakura to the side and replies, "it's not the village I can't forgive, Sakura…"

His words are like death to her. She begins to shiver uncontrollably; her chest tightens until her breathing nearly stops. Sakura body slumps to the ground, her eyes—vacant and distant.

Naruto sighs as he watches her tremble. He can feel his chest tightening, but does not think to ask why. Instead, he thinks of only one thing.

"Look at her Sasuke."

With a weary expression, Naruto picks up the emotionally ravaged shinobi into his arms and walks slowly towards the village.

* * *

Some years before…

Sasuke knew he would have to face him, but he honestly thought he would win. He had justice on his side after all. It was the Hidden Leaf Village that had conspired to annihilate his clan, and place false blame on the noblest of them all – his brother Itachi. After learning of the truth from Madara, Sasuke had taken the mantle of avenger once more, but this time, it was true justice, not the petty hate of boy scorned by god.

However, it was Naruto, the village champion, who was still standing as Sasuke lay prostrate on the ground – beaten and broken.

For a brief moment, Sasuke finds peace in his defeat. Then his mind begins to focus on his current state. He does not feel his limbs. He doesn't know for sure, but the nerves in his spine may have been severed. He tries to move his arms, but they will not obey his commands. He looks at his body, surveying the damage.

His injuries are extensive. He's sure that most of his bones are fractured or broken, and from the look of things, the lacerations that cover his body are the least of his concerns. The only thing he can do is activate his Sharingan eyes, one final act of defiance.

He looks over to the victor. Naruto is breathing hard, smirking at him. He holds his chest, trying to stem the flow of blood, but too much flesh had been taken – more like burned away. Sasuke's chidori had hit true. For Naruto, it was only his will and the demon's chakra that was keeping him alive.

But Naruto couldn't die just yet. He had something to do. The Rasengan Shuriken had also hit true, and if he did not act soon, Sasuke would die from his wounds. With the last vestige of his strength, he crawls to the fallen Uchiha. Slowly, he manages his way to the tree that supports his friend. The Uchiha could hear his friend's breathing – shallow and labored. The blood keeps flowing from his wound.

Sasuke feels something being forced into his mouth. He shifts his gaze to the blue-eyed devil and sees the grin. "There, all better," Naruto says, winking at him, before plopping beside him, letting the tree and his friend's shoulder prop him up.

Something is wrong.

"So Sasuke, how does it feel to be dead last?" Naruto grins as he speaks, revealing white canines glinting in the twilight.

Sasuke desperately wants to rage against his former teammate, but found that he no longer had the strength to express it. Naruto was supposed to be the lesser man, a talentless hack who should have been weighed down by his bonds. The loser, however, had just defeated him in battle, after slaying his vast army. He should have been enraged that he, the last of the Uchiha, had not been able to defeat the lesser man.

But his mind could not tear itself from the vision of Karin, sprawled on the ground, dead from Kisame's blade.

The missing nin had intended to take revenge for the death of Itachi, his friend and partner.

Kisame saw his opening and attacked Sasuke as he lay wounded by one of Naruto's attacks. His hope for a quick kill was dashed by a lone girl. She had taken the killing blow meant for the last of the Uchiha. Sasuke always told her that she meant nothing to him, even though he took her body every night. So why did she do it? Why did she die for him? The terrible emptiness that had plagued his childhood returned, but he no longer had the burning hatred to keep it at bay.

Uchiha Sasuke was suffering and could not endure it.

"Why didn't you kill me?" the Uchiha asks, his eyes drifting to the moon above.

Naruto's grin disappears. He looks at him with careful eyes. He sees the man's pain. The dead girl, the one who died earlier, must have been close to his lost brother. Could Sasuke have loved her?

Naruto forces himself to straighten out his back, easing his strained diaphragm, allowing him to speak. He needed to speak, to tell his brother a few things before the night claimed him.

"I've got a family…"

Sasuke's eyes widens in disbelief. "Sakura?" he inquires.

Naruto chuckles, but the unexpected movement of levity causes blood to leak down his windpipe; Naruto spasms from the coughing fit. Sasuke, stunned by his friend's state, tries to speak, but Naruto was not finished.

"No, Hinata. I know, the Hyuuga Heiress. We have a son on the way." Naruto then struggles with his pouch and pulls out a picture, the image, a series of black and white distortions. "It's called a sonogram. It's strange, but I can see him you know. His hands, his eyes, even his wee wee. Man, he's going to be real popular with the ladies," Naruto wheezes, pride evident in his trembling voice.

Sasuke struggles to process what was happening to him. His friend had crippled him, but saved his life. Now he was telling him that he was going to have a child with a girl other than Sakura. What was happening? It didn't make any sense. And why was Naruto still bleeding? Naruto's wounds always healed, the demon inside him made sure of that…

"You're dying," Sasuke gasped, as he realized the terrible truth.

"Yeah," Naruto replied without hesitation. Sasuke was stunned to say the least, but ever the genius, Sasuke's mind whirled with theories and hypothesis, linking disparate facts into a coherent narrative.

His brow furors as he reaches a startling conclusion: "That pill, that pill you gave me. It could have saved you. Why?"

Naruto's grin fades again, in its stead is an expression as serious and sharp as a knife's edge. "I had a promise to keep."

"PROMISE. ALL THIS FOR A STUPID PROMISE?!" Sasuke screams in anguish, a tear escaping from his sharringan eye.

"Because that's what brothers do," Naruto wheezes back, the conviction in his voice cutting the Uchiha deep. But before Sasuke can say anymore, Naruto explodes into a series of wet hacking coughs, drenching the Uchiha with bloody spittle.

"Not good," Naruto grimaces as his lungs slowly recovers from the trauma imposed by his injuries. Finding no strength, Naruto slumps down, his head resting on Sasuke's shoulder again, his eyes starting to dim.

"So much pain in our past Sasuke…it's time to let them go…those terrible memories…and live for the future…"

Sasuke, broken by his friend's display of love, begins to weep, his eyes unable to hold back the deluge of tears that was streaming down his weary face. "How?"

Naruto grins and says, "by protecting the ones you love…keep them safe…" He places the picture into Sasuke's hand as his breathing begins to slow. Sasuke can feel his friend's death drawing near. He trembles, trying to speak, but no words follow.

The words are choked in Naruto's throat as the gloom sets in. The child of destiny wishes that he could live to see his family grow. He wishes he could touch Hinata's soft skin again. He wishes a thousand things in that moment, but knowing that all his wishing will come to nothing – except for possibly one. With the last of his strength, he speaks.

"My son…don't let him be alone…"

Sasuke sees Naruto's body deflate as the last of his breath is released with his final words. The survivor is beyond shocked.

"STOP TALKING NONSENSE!" he shrieks, hoping that his friend was just playing a cruel joke on him. But the boy does not respond, only silence and blood remains. "Dammit," Sasuke chokes out, as the full weight of his friend's death falls upon him, "you can't be dead…"

The Uchiha wails into the night, his grief and sorrow echoing throughout the forest.

* * *

She hears something horrid carried on the winds. It's guttural, raw, but undeniably human. "Naruto?" she wonders. She runs, praying that the miserable sound had nothing to do with the man she loves.

The battle had been chaotic. Sasuke's last attack had knocked her out, but she was none the worst for it. When she awoke, there was silence. She found Kisame's body lying in the middle of a gigantic crater, what was left of it anyway. No doubt, Naruto had used his Rasengan on the renegade shinobi. Good riddance. But she does not dwell on the dead for long, for she has to find him. She has to make sure he's safe.

After all, she had a promise to keep.

Back at the gates of the village, she remembered being by Hinata's side as they both watched Naruto run towards battle. "Please," Hinata wept as she watched Naruto recede into the horizon, "Please bring him back to me Sakura. You're the only one who can."

Sakura tries to push back the memory of her friend so that she can focus on the mission, but the Hyuuga's words haunt her, even in the battlefield. So she steels herself and strengthens her resolve. Battle was no place for weakness or doubt. A shinobi cannot afford such things.

But such thoughts died, as did her dreams, when her eyes spied Naruto, sprawled on the ground in a pool of his own blood.

"NARUTO!" she screams.

She runs to him. She doesn't greet Sasuke, she barely notices him. Sakura turns Naruto over and gasps. She sees the hole in his chest, but she pushes past the emotions wanting to be unleashed. Instead, she goes to work.

She checks his vitals. He's not breathing, there's no pulse. Fear threatens to take hold, but she fights it back. His body is still warm, some chakra remains, there's still hope. She examines the rest of his body and is nearly overwhelmed by her discovery.

"Why isn't he healing?"

She tries to calm herself. She knows that her emotions are hindering her judgment. She needs to analyze the situation and come up with a solution or Naruto—

"Dammit, focus" she chides herself. She knows only a seal could disrupt the chakra that connects the man to the demon. "Did you put a seal on him?" she demands from the Uchiha, her eyes boring into the man she once considered loving.

Sasuke looks at her and turns his head slightly. No, he had done no such thing. She takes a moment to consider his response. He wouldn't lie about something like that, even if it meant death from an enraged shinobi. He had too much pride for that.

"Dammit Sakura, think!" she screams. Panic begins to creep in. Then, at that moment, she sees a tiny blemish on his chest. She takes her canteen and pours water over the skin, wiping away the blood and grime. Her eyes widen, she recognizes the seal.

Her mind races to the fight with Kabuto a few days ago. He had managed to land a blow to Naruto's chest before his body was disintegrated by the Rasenshruiken. She thought nothing of it since Naruto appeared to be fine hours after the battle. She cursed herself for not catching on earlier. Her carelessness had just killed the man she loves.

The seal, from what she understood of it, poisons the tissue by rearranging the genetic structure of the affected cells through the use of chakra manipulation. The affected person would suspect nothing since it takes time for it to become fully potent, and by that time, it would be too late. The affected tissue would be beyond repair and would flood the rest of the body with deadly pathogens. But the seal was slightly different from the one she knew of, it must have been modified by the bastard medic-nin. Kabuto must have modified the seal to suppress the demon chakra, a special technique to kill Naruto.

No more thinking, she must act. She closes her eyes, and places her hands above his heart. She pumps the area with her chakra, hoping that she can counteract the effect. The seal fades – for a moment – but it's not enough. The seal holds. "Dammit!" she curses, her frustrations palpable. She could sense the demon's chakra churning behind the seal, seeking escape, trying to heal Naruto's body, but the seal placed on his heart was keeping back the tide. Her brow furrows as she realizes that his heart was beyond saving. Suddenly, a long forgotten, but familiar voice rings in her mind. "Naruto needs a new heart," it says.

It's a crazy idea, but Sakura is considered the most skilled medical ninja in the world, greater even than the Fifth Hokage. Surely she could transplant a heart into Naruto. It would just require some careful chakra manipulation. Yes, it should work.

The truth is a knife to her, a sudden deep strike into her heart. There is no heart to be had Sakura realizes, no donor to save Naruto. She slumps, collapsing on top of his frame, weeping, the tears drenching his exposed chest.

"What about Sasuke?" the voice whispers, almost taunting her, "he's defenseless, he deserves it, Naruto can be saved—

Sakura's eyes tremble at the horrid thought that permeates through her addled mind. She turns to the fallen Uchiha and holds a steady gaze. The voice returns, "Yes, he dies, but Naruto will live. Isn't that worth everything?" A tear streaks down along the contours of her face, her eyes never wavering from Sasuke, her breathing quickening. Slowly, resolve builds. Words slip from her lips, low and hushed.

"a new heart…"

Sasuke stares back in confusion, but it only takes a moment for his mind to unravel the mystery behind her words. It's an absurd concept, human organ transplantation, but then again, if eyes can be transplanted, why not a heart? He smirks.

"You can't kill me," he says, "you're too weak."

His words are thunderclaps to her, rattling her bones. Sakura doesn't speak, doesn't nod; she makes no effort to reply. She too stunned to do anything.

His smirk deepens; it's almost—but not truly—a smile.

Shattering the oppressive tension hanging in the air is the sound of laughter, more like the roar of a lion basking in the glow of a fresh kill. Sakura can feel her heart skipping a beat from the sudden outburst. She doesn't know what's happening. She doesn't realize the terrible truth of the matter. She doesn't realize that she was about lose her one true love.

The laughter stops. It takes him a few seconds to regain control over his breathing. His heart feel lighter, his vision clearer.

"Tell him he can keep his promises," he says defiantly.

Before Sakura can speak, Sasuke takes one last look at his friend before summoning the strength to do the impossible. With a sudden explosion of power, Sasuke twists his own neck, the violence of the action is sufficient to break the spinal column – a testament to his skill and fearsome ability.

His body slumps to the forest floor, his vacant eyes showing no life. Sakura doesn't move. Her mind can't comprehend the suddenness of what just happened. But as the woman named Sakura shuts down, the shinobi takes over, training and experience leads the way.

Sakura rushes to Sasuke, her fingers already checking for a pulse she knows won't be there. She takes a moment to make sure. Nothing. She lets out the breath that she didn't realize that she was holding.

She lays the body flat on the ground and begins to retrieve her surgical instruments. Soon, she presses the scalpel to her former teammate's chest, and applies pressure until she can feel the skin give way, blood flowing free.

The tears begin to flow just as free.

"Forgive me," she weeps.

* * *

The darkness slowly gives way to light. Sensations rushes forward. He feels a familiar weight against his chest, the smell of lavender enticing him forward. A thought begins to emerge. "Am I alive?"

He can feel his eyelids flutter. The light is blinding, but soon, images begin to form. He recognizes the color; it's purple. The form sharpens; he can see that it's hair. Instinctively, he moves his hand and clumsily caresses the silken strands of his beloved's hair.

His touch wakes her from her troubled sleep. She looks up and sees the open sky peer into her soul. Tears begin to streak down her swollen eyes. For three days she had stayed by his side. For three days she prayed to the gods to bring him back. For three days she cursed the Uchiha and their horrid pride. For three days, she wept because with all her power and privilege, with all her stature and pedigree, she could do nothing but weep, pray and dread for her love.

Her lips mash against his, the salt of her tears present on his tongue. He doesn't understand what is happening, but does not care. He gives in and melts into the kiss. Exhausted from their passion, Hinata pulls away first, but only so that she could see his face. Her gaze is deep and penetrating. Every contour, every color, every detail; she burns into her memory.

Naruto doesn't feel embarrassed—such is the condition of their love—but the man does feel regret for putting her through such pain. After all, he did plan on dying and to be brought back…

"Wait, how am I still alive?" he asks.

The question hits Hinata in the gut—hard. The silence confuses him. "Was it some new jutsu Sakura developed?"

Hinata looks away, her expression filled with sorrow and grief.

Naruto, feeling surprised by her response, suddenly felt an intense urge to ask—

"Where's Sasuke?"


	9. Stillness of Toads

**AN:** So I'm getting really lazy because I don't have it in me to write a narrative. So I've decided to do a stream of consciousness thing, in which I use a series of vignettes to tell a story that has no real plot. As always, reviews will fuel my ego and perhaps inspire me to write some more.

**Stillness of Toads**

The world was a strange place to Iruka Uzumaki, little Roo to his family. It seemed like everyone knew who his father was.

Apparently an entire generation of young boys was named after the man, as well as bridges, streets, and even a mountain that had been created during one of his father's many famous battles.

Songs were sung of his deeds, novels were written about his triumphs and tragedies, and a recently released movie had just driven the "Naruto" craze into frenzy. There were Naruto dolls and lunch boxes for children and Naruto apparel and collectibles for the adults.

Little Roo was simply confused by it all. He knew his father was a skilled shinobi, but he was just so goofy sometimes. It was hard for the boy to fully appreciate the power that hid behind the large grin and bright blue eyes.

So one day, the boy was resolved to unlock the mystery that was his father. It was during one of their many strolls through the courtyards of Suna that little Roo decided to make his stand.

"What do you think about Temari?" asked Naruto, not realizing that his son had stopped. Only when the silence continued did Naruto turn back to see his little boy standing with a determined look about him.

"Roo?" his father ventured.

"I want to know Father. I want to know your power. What is the secret behind your power?" Roo asked, his voice firm and even. "I was born great," Naruto replied smugly, his Cheshire grin ever present.

"Hmmm," little Roo huffed, his arms folded neatly across the chest. Though he was only five years old, Roo was a precocious child—a genius if you will—and was not easily fooled by grins or tall claims.

"You doubt your father, the great Toad Sage Uzumaki Naruto!" Uzumaki Naruto bellowed, his chest high in the air, his arms brandishing muscles hidden behind the traditional garb of the Toad Sage, his weight supported by a large orange toad. Though Uzumaki Naruto was known by many names—Hero of the Valley, Hurricane of the Leaf, Legion, Storm Rider, Namikaze—he only cared for one title, the one bestowed to him by his former teacher. How he missed his old sensei.

Naruto was unnerved by the deafening silence. Peeking through squinted eyes, Naruto could see that his little one had more than doubt on his face. "Hey Gamiku," speaking to the toad, "do you think he's buying it?"

The toad, with a bored expression, replied, "nope."

Naruto returned his gaze to the nearly livid boy and asked: "Would you believe milk?"

…

Peeking through squinted eyes once more, Naruto saw that the furrow on his boy's face had deepened—perhaps permanently. "Good god, he inherited their eye brow," thought the famed shinobi.

Exhaling, leaving his body deflated, Naruto bowed his head in resignation. "Fine," he whined, "I'll tell you, but you have to keep it a secret."

Little Roo shook his tiny head emphatically. The boy began to sweat with anticipation. He knew that he was going to be inducted into the halls of adulthood with the secret behind his father's famed powers; it was exhilarating for the boy to know that he was finally on his way of becoming anything but a child.

Seeing the boy's enthusiasm made Naruto feel nostalgic for the old days when he too harbored such hopes and dreams. "Then come here," spoke Naruto as he held his arms open.

Roo, taking the invitation, ran to his father, and was gingerly placed on the man's lap. "It's actually quite simple. It's because I have you." Little Roo was confused by his father's seemingly heartfelt reply.

Catching onto his son's confusion, Naruto explained, "You see, someone taught me once, as I will teach you now, that when you have someone precious, someone you love with all your heart, you will find the strength to protect them. So you see, because I love you, and want to protect you, I grow stronger."

Naruto watched with pride as he saw his son absorbing his words, but then a sad countenance took hold of the boy, causing the father to worry.

"What's wrong son?" Naruto asked, feeling the dread rise in him.

At first, little Roo didn't want to speak the words aching to come out, and for a moment, he thought he could restrain himself, but as if the words had a mind of their own, they rushed past his lips.

"Does that mean you didn't love momma?"

Little Roo's ears began to fill with the sound of crashing waves—caused by the rush of blood being forced through his arteries by his thumping heart—as he felt the air thicken with an oppressive weight. Naruto looked away, his eyes clenched tightly shut, the pain evident on his face.

Images of his dear Hinata flashed before him as the memories of that terrible day came crashing into his head. Suddenly, he could feel the weight of her broken and bloody body pressing against his arms, the smell of charred flesh offending his nostrils, and the salty taste of his tears filling his mouth. His ears echoed with the sounds of that day, the terrible wail of his misery, the roar of the flames eating away at his home, the heat searing his skin.

"I'm not there," he began to chant silently, trying to stave back the insanity. With titanic strength, Naruto forced back the maelstrom of despair and suffering threatening to overtake him.

With a sudden motion, Naruto wrapped his arms around Roo, his face buried in the boy's hair. With eyes still shut, he mumbled to his son: "I loved her very much, more than the world, but I wasn't strong enough. I'm sorry my boy…I'm sorry I couldn't—the words choking in his burgeoning tears—oh god, I'm so sorry."

It was the last time Roo ever asked his father about his fabulous strength. It was also the last time he ever asked his father about his mother.

**

* * *

**

My name is Haruno Sakura and I am perhaps the strongest shinobi of the Hidden Leaf village. The man lying next to me is Uzumaki Naruto. I am nothing compared to him. I could defeat armies; he could take down nations.

He was not always so powerful. Before he had become a god, he was just a boy with bright blue eyes and a smile that seemed to light up the whole world. But fate was not kind to him. As a child, he had to suffer his father's burden and was ostracized by the village—an unbearable loneliness nearly consumed him, but still, he lived on, hoping that one day, someone would acknowledge his existence, tell him that he wasn't worthless. How I curse those days; if I had not been so self-absorbed, then I could have saved him all those years of pain and anguish.

But he didn't need me back then. He had others to help him, friends who would become precious to him and so he would protect them – that was his choice. He worked tirelessly, trained relentlessly so he could be strong enough to protect those for whom he cherished. But it never seemed enough. He would master a technique more powerful than the last, achieve such power that it seemed to defy reason, but still, he would lose the ones he loved.

First it was Sasuke, then Jiraiya, later Hinata and their child, Temari, and the list goes one, names forever entombed in his heart.

Not even his spirit could withstand the misery of losing so many…his heart grew cold for it. He abandoned his dream of becoming Hokage; he abandoned the village he once swore to protect; and he abandoned me.

Yesterday, he shattered me with his words. I am not one to give into hyperbole, but if he had left me behind, I would have died. Perhaps, I should have died. But instead, with his strong arms, he carried me to his home, and embraced me—saving me from my despair.

Still, my heart will not heal, because I know soon, he will ask me to leave, as he has done since the first time he took me.

It has been a few weeks now since the day I found him in that distant homestead. Each day since then has been a mixture of pain and joy. He takes me into his bed, and I feel as if love can grow. But then dawn's light comes, and I am left alone. There are no words exchanged nor notes passed, only the emptiness where he once lay.

And my heart breaks each time, but I still leave the window open each night, knowing full well the misery that will come the next day. The pain is nearly unbearable, but I cannot deny him.

But tonight was different. He took me to his home and as the dawn approaches, Naruto has not stirred.

Dare I hope?

My eyes are shut, my breathing unchanged. I do not move—I fear waking him. I do not wish for this dream to end. My Naruto. His brow is heavy, his muscles tense, even at rest.

I can feel his clones' presence—four standing at each of the cardinal directions guarding the roost. I don't think he ever really sleeps anymore. Even now, his eyes may be closed and his breathing steady, but I know if anything would to stir in his home, he would be awake, kunai in hand. He knows no peace.

He was different back then, in our early days, so carefree and full of hope. But the life he lived, took those qualities from him, along with those most sacred to him.

He's moving.

My chest tightens.

His eyes are still closed, but I can see his lips are about to move.

"You should go."

* * *

Kankarou had always loved the sight of his beloved desert—the desolate landscape offering a unique beauty that only the hardened could love and appreciate—but not this not night.

This night only offered the grim conclusion of a life erred.

"With these two fists, I'll make my own ninja way. That's what you said Naruto," sighed the warrior, "What will you say now? What can your fists do now?"

His reply was silence.

For nearly twenty years, he had lived his life among the dunes, running across the sands, protecting his homeland. Battles had been fought, friends lost, love found, all in the precious vastness of the desert. But that life was gone now.

He had done the unthinkable, he had betrayed his country. And it wasn't for fame or fortune, it wasn't for vengeance or high ideals. The reason for his fall was more mundane than that. He had fallen prey to the oldest of weaknesses, a taint that has slain honorable men all throughout history: love.

Kankarou of the Red Sands, slayer of armies, a legend far greater than his title's predecessor, had fallen in love with an enemy agent, a woman of unscrupulous manner and deceit, a woman crushed by vengeful sand.

Now Kankarou found himself running from his home, hoping to escape the Kazekage's wrath, but not his fate. He was no coward, but he would be damned before he would allow his brother to commit fratricide and risk his hard won soul. So he waited until—

"I'm glad it's you, Naruto," said Kankarou as he sensed his friend's presence, "my family should not be the ones to carry out my execution."

Naruto stood silently, unsure of what to say. His mind buzzed with a whirlwind of questions and thoughts. He had just come home from a joint mission with the Sand when his wife, Temari, had come to him, distraught, near tears—a sight that no other man could claim to have seen from the Desert Princess, for she was of iron, wrought by heat as unforgiving as the sun.

Still, even her heart could not hold back the pain of losing a brother. That was the news she gave him before Naruto could even cross the threshold of their home.

She wept into his arms, telling him how the council had discovered a spy amongst their ranks and that the spy was none other than Kankarou's lover and second in command of the city guards. Each detail, each strangled fact, was a dagger to Naruto's heart, for he knew what every shinobi knows.

Betrayal means death.

But Naruto did not want his brother-in-law to die, not when they had just become a family. So he volunteered to bring Kankarou back to the village, hoping that perhaps he could salvage the situation—prevent the inevitable.

Naruto, however, had no grand epiphany when he laid eyes on the missing-nin, no clever trick to save the day, only a grim conclusion.

How did it come to this? It was the question that Naruto had been obsessing over in the three days that it took to track down his fallen comrade.

"Kankarou, why?" Naruto asked, his eyes quivering with raw emotion.

It hurt him to see the vaunted legend of the Leaf in so much pain, but Kankarou was no sentimental man. With a face devoid of expression, Kankarou, taking a long, drawn breath, finally exhaled in a slow drawl, "Why— in—deeeeeeeeed?"

Enraged by Kankarou's reaction, Naruto shouted "Dammit Kankarou, I'm serious!"

"It doesn't matter Naruto. I'm a traitor. That's all that matters," Kankarou replied with a smirk.

Naruto's mind flashed with the memories of their youth. They had been enemies once, when the Sand had joined forces with the village of Sound and attacked his home, but that was long ago. After the failed invasion, the Sand and Leaf reformed their alliance, and thanks in part to the efforts of Naruto and Gaara, their bonds of fellowship had never been stronger.

Since then, the four of them, Kankarou, Gaara and Temari had fought together, bled together. Tears and jokes were shared among them—he had married into their family. And now, Naruto was ordered by the Kazekage, his other brother-in-law, to execute on sight his kin.

Both men began dwelling on their thoughts, allowing the silence settled.

An errant remark shattered the silence: "Do you remember your bachelor party, Naruto? How for one week, we raised holy hell in the Moon Country. Can you believe even Gaara got drunk?"

Images of an irate blonde woman filled their minds, along with a begging Naruto and a hiccupping Gaara.

Naruto began to laugh, easing the mounting tension in the air. "How could I forget? Temari almost killed me after you blabbed about that dancer—

"Hey, now, I wasn't the one who mistook the stripper for my fiancé, did I?"

"That's because you said it was Temari in disguise," Naruto barked, remembering that he was too drunk to think clearly, let alone figure out the joke.

"And you believed me, you'll never be Hokage if you're that gullible."

At first, only a chuckle could be heard, but like an avalanche, the laughter came, louder by every second, baritone bravado echoing across the sands.

But like a fire that had exhausted its fuel, the laughter ebbed away, leaving only a suffocating silence.

"After Hinata died, I was lost. I was so consumed with rage that I couldn't even care for my own son. It was you who saved me Kankarou, it was you that helped me learn to live again with Temari….because of that, I won't let you die," spoke Naruto, a grim determination taking hold of him.

"COWARD!" Kankarou roared, his fists clenched, shaking with fury. "Coward," he roared once more, stinging Naruto with his accusation, for Naruto Uzumaki was no coward.

He did not stare down the cold eyes of a village as a child or the cruel hands of fate when they took away his beloved Hinata to be called a coward by anyone—even if it came from a brother.

"If you were anybody else Kankarou, you would be dead," Naruto replied through clenched teeth, his eyes revealing the barely contained rage.

Kankarou's expression remained unchanged, fierce, like the stone faces of guardian statues, his hand reaching for his holster.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

But Kankarou offered no reply. Instead, he pulled out three black spheres and held them between his fingers. Naruto recognized his brother-in law's weapon of choice.

"Dammit Kankarou, this is no time for jokes," Naruto cried out, his voice brimming with emotions, "no one has to die today."

"Now who's joking around. I'm a traitor to my village and possess secrets vital to the security of the Wind country. We both know what that means. Kill on sight."

Clenching his fist, Naruto, his voice booming, yelled, "I refuse to believe that."

Cutting him off, Kankarou, yelled back, "Do not forget your duty Uzumaki Naruto! Though you may be Leaf, you married into this family and as such, you are bound by honor to accomplish your mission. Temari…"

"Temari is pregnant!"

Kankarou felt his heart skip.

"Yes. We just found out. So you see, you have to come back, because our child will need an uncle—

"I'm happy for you and Temari, but that changes nothing."

With a smirk, Kankarou hurled the black orbs towards the bewildered Leaf shinobi. In a brilliant explosion, the orbs disappear. In their place, three hundred figures burst forth, clad in black, armed with a multitude of weapons.

In an instant, the puppet army tears through the shocked Naruto, his flesh rendered into bloody pulp. Kankarou showed no surprise as the remnants of his friend pop into clouds of smoke.

In another instant, three hundred Naruto clones phased into existence, each armed with a single, strange kunai. They pounce.

From the distance, as clone fought puppet, stood the generals of the combatant forces, their focus only on each other.

"What are you doing Naruto? You're not giving me you're all," Kankarou said without uttering a single word.

Naruto's silent reply: I can save you.

Kankarou can read Naruto's pain etched into his expression. He was sorry for that, but there was no choice.

Kankarou's hands flew into a rage of hand signs, stirring the chakra within. He could feel the raw power flowing through his body, the deep urge for release. "Fire Army Summons" Kankarou roared, his hand slamming into the ground.

Thousands of wooden men erupted from the earth, leaving fissures and spools of smoke in its wake. Naruto could only watch in awe as he sees his brother's true power. From what he understood of Kankarou's prized technique, the wooden men were summoned from some secret place, waiting to do their master's bidding.

Sensing his impending doom, Naruto leapt from his spot and threw up a shadow clone shield as the closest wooden man exploded, showering the terrain with fire and burning shrapnel. The intense heat seared through the flesh of the clones, absorbing most, but not all of the force.

Naruto felt the air forced from his lungs, his eyes burning from the intensity of the blast. He summoned more shadow clones, as the ones in front of him died, but it was not enough. Shrapnel pierced through his flesh, the smell of charred meat filled his nostrils, bile was on his lips.

Through the pain, he sensed another impending blast. Years of training and a razor sharp fighting instinct kicks in. Through sheer will, chakra swirled about him, his will condensing the density of the power surrounding him until an ephemeral light imbued the great master.

Kankarou's lips begin to curl into a smirk. He had seen it only once before, the great Rasengan, ultimate defense. Similar to the Hyuuga's defense, but with only one important difference – Naruto didn't need to spin to make it effective.

Naruto could feel the blast ripple across the blue sphere through his senses, but was shielded from the rampage outside. Kankarou did not relent, but kept detonating his monstrosities, knowing that Naruto could not move, lest he risk dropping his defense, so the two stood, struggling to maintain their techniques, straining from the effort.

After what seemed like an eternity, the smoke cleared and the blasts had stopped. Both men were weary and exhausted, but Naruto felt his strength returning, the chakra of the demon infusing him with its unholy power.

Kankarou could feel its power as well.

"How does it feel like to be a God?" asked the puppet master.

Naruto made no reply, his eyes trying to pierce through the folly of their time, but to no avail. In the time between moments, Kankarou had acted, calling forth another army of puppets, each clad in an iron shell, black as night, armed with all manner of weapons.

With a heavy heart, Naruto spoke. "You can't win, Kankarou."

"Don't get cocky, Naruto," yelled Kankarou, even though he knew in his heart that Naruto's words were not born from arrogance, but from a deep and profound sadness—a sadness stemming from the knowledge that his power had been used once before to slaughter the many.

And Naruto did not want to use such monstrous power against someone he considered precious.

"I want to see it, Naruto," said Kankarou, his tone even and steady, "I want to see you true strength."

Naruto could feel a sharp chill run through his spine. Death was near.

Kankarou pressed on. "She'll be the one you know…to carry out my execution."

"I wouldn't let her," Naruto replied, his words as sharp as his will.

"Even though Gaara is the strongest of us, in some ways, he's also the most fragile. It took him years before he could understand love Naruto, much of that is because of you. But he struggles with the madness, Naruto, that dark thing inside him from those days when he was the vessel for the one-tailed demon. Killing me could undo all those years of humanity, and for that reason, Temari would do anything—even it meant my death."

"It will not happen!" Naruto roared.

With a smirk, Kankura countered, "Well then Uzumaki, you leave me no choice. DIE!"

Kankouro's hands furiously blurred through the signs, the chakra swirling visibly around his body. A moment later, an army of puppets exploded from the earth, blanketing the landscape. Naruto recognized the puppet army his brother had used to decimate the samurai legions of the Western lands. Once again, a chill takes hold of him—a familiar feeling for one who has killed many. Was he going to explode them all? That would be suicide.

Naruto grimaced with frustration. His mind went through a hundred permutations, trying to find a solution, but it all ended up either killing his brother or dying with him in a fireball of destruction.

The Leaf Shinobi saw only one option: speed. If he could get to Kankarou and take him out before the puppet master could trigger the technique, then maybe, no one would have to die. But to gain that speed, he would have to move beyond his body's ability to react to a counter attack. He would be vulnerable, but more importantly, he may not be able to stop in time.

To achieve that speed, Naruto would have to channel his wind chakra to form a vortex that would crush everything in its path.

Still, it was his only chance to save his brother. With a silent prayer, Naruto summoned the chakra from the natural world around him. "I'M GOING TO SAVE YOU!" he roared as he sped forward, his kunai ready to slash through wooden army before him.

"Fool," Kankarou huffed.

In the span of a single breath, Kankarou felt the puppets in front of him explode with the tremendous force of Naruto's vortex technique, though his keen eyes could not see the man.

At the end of that single breath, Kankarou felt a blinding pain in his chest. Looking down, he saw a blade slicing through him with speeds so fast that it resembled light more than steel. The puppet master chuckled. He was expecting something with big explosions or gale force winds from the Hurricane of the Hidden Leaf village, but Naruto was always full of surprises.

And it was surprise that the said man felt when his blade caught something more than the wood frame that he was expecting as he barreled through the army of puppets. Through his years of combat experience, Naruto knew without a doubt that his blade had met flesh, but his eyes, never wavering from his target, told him that Kankarou still stood a few dozen meters away.

Only when Kankarou burst into smoke did the Hurricane of the Leaf realized the truth of the matter. In his mind echoed: "See underneath the underneath."

"You hid among your puppets," Naruto gasped, as he saw the puppet army fall into pieces, their source of power cut off. He spun around and spied with horror a lone puppet still standing, blood rushing from a deep gash in the chest.

Kankarou unlatched the puppet armor disguising his face; he couldn't breathe with it on. But as the mask fell to the earth, Kankarou still labored to feed his lungs air—a consequence of having one lung pierced. He smiled at his friend and with ragged breath, spoke: "A tactic I learned well from the one I call brother."

The kunai fell from Naruto's hand. "No," he whispered.

"It's okay Naruto. This is how it should be."

Naruto never did talk about that day. Not with Temari nor with their children. Kankarou was never spoken of again.

* * *

Are you the maelstrom that tears asunder all under heaven, Naruto? Or are you the winds that carry the hope of generations?

Those were my master's final words to me, Pa Toad, the one who taught me the stillness of the toads—the source of my power. I think, when it came, he saw in me the boy that I was and not the man that I had become.

So I would like to think. We buried him in the side of the sacred mountain, along with Ma Toad. It was hard burying him.

It was harder carrying the guilt around. He would not have approved the things I've done, all the lives I took, all the devastation I had left behind. The sage arts were a gift from the ancients he used to tell me, something to be used to defend and protect, never to be used for slaughter.

But I desecrated the Sage arts by committing many terrible acts in my search of vengeance.

Yes, he would be very disappointed in the "chosen one."

But I am no boy anymore. All those foolish notions about friendship and ambition have left me, only my family matters. For them, I will do whatever is necessary.

That is my ninja way.


	10. Confessions and Decisions

AN: This scene is from the latest Naruto Manga chapter. I'd like the premise so I'm using it as a springboard for my story. My ego needs stoking so please review. Oh, and no, I don't do humorous stories.

**Chapter 11: Confessions and Decisions**

"I love you." Those were her last words to him. He didn't know. For all those years, Hinata Hyuuga had just been a figure in the background to him—the strange girl who would always faint when he was near. But she was dead now, killed in front of him—another precious life he could not protect.

More than anything, he wanted her to be alive, wanting so desperately to be with her and ask her a world of questions.

Why do you love me? When did it happen? Why didn't you ever say anything?

But she was gone—taken from him like so many others: Jiraiya, Kakashi, Asuma, Haku…

He was weary of the fighting and the death, weary of the heartache. So many loved ones lost, so many more enemies to fight—a never ending cycle. And all Naruto Uzumaki wanted was an end to the game. He wanted to stop feeling so useless, so when the demon spoke of an end to the pain, Naruto felt his resolve slip.

"I can take your pain away," said the Demon fox, "just remove the seal, and I can bring you peace."

With all his soul, Naruto wanted to let go and give in to the demon's words.

But then a hand reached out and stopped him. Naruto was startled at first from the intrusion, but it was seeing the white cloak that shocked him. He had seen it many times before as a child—the famed white cloak of the Fourth Hokage—it proudly hung in the great hall of the Hokages—a testament to the strength of the will of fire.

How many times had he dreamed of donning that sacred cloth? He wasn't sure, but it was the inspiration for his own garb. And now. There it was. Along with the man.

"Naruto, it's good seeing you my son," spoke the Hokage. The last word struck him hard, harder than any punch.

What?" the shaken boy uttered, still dazed from the revelation. "Yes, my boy," the Fourth replied, "You are my son and I see you have grown to be a fine young man." For a moment, the boy is stunned, but years of repressed rage and anguish begin to stir, the source of his pain

"How can you be my father?" Naruto screamed, reclaiming his senses.

"There isn't time to explain, but please, understand, I did what I did to save you," his father tried to explain.

"Save me!? Do you know what it was like to grow up alone and hated for all of those years? To be hunted for having this thing inside me," Naruto bellowed, his finger pointing towards the caged demon.

"I am sorry my Son for the things you had to endure, but there is no time to explain. I can feel my city in ruin, I can feel your friends' life draining away, and I can feel the enemy still near. If we are to save them, we must act now."

The demon interjected, "Yes, we can save them all boy! I will give you my powers and you can tear down your enemies. Just release me and my power is yours!"

Naruto could feel the allure in the demon's promise. Turning to the dark cage, Naruto repeated the demon's words: "Power to tear down my enemies."

"Yes, so you can save them," the demon assured. The Fourth, feeling his son's heart aching, reached out to Naruto. With a low, but warm voice, he spoke: "Jiraiya wanted so very much to teach people that there was a better way of dealing with the hate than to fight, but he didn't know how. He didn't know he could help change the world, but he believed that you would find the way. We both believe that you can save this world using your own strength."

"If you had such power," snarled the demon, "why then is your village smoldering and your loved ones dead?"

The Fourth roared back, "Quiet demon! You know nothing of my son's heart! You know nothing of his pain and burden!"

"Do not dare speak to me the hard and cold of this world you insignificant creature! I have seen all the horrors and terrors of this mortal plane, for there is no dark place or realm of light that is too far removed for these eyes. With these eyes, I have seen the future and the past and all that is between. I have seen this earth burn and all screaming in agony until all that remained were ash and smoke," replied the demon, his voice dripping with malice and malcontent. But then with a softer tone, the demon continued, "So I know what it is needed to stop the carnage. Come Naruto of the Uzumaki, take my power and bend the world to your will."

Naruto looked to his father, hoping for guidance. With a warm smile, his father obliged. "I remember, watching through your eyes, a mission that you went on with that Shikamaru guy. Before you left the village, he took you and the rest of the team to the side and briefed you on his strategy. 'Kiba,' Shikamaru said, 'you'll take point and serve as our tracker.' Then he looked to that Neji fellow and told him that he'll take rear to guard against a sneak attack by the enemy. Then he turned to you and said, 'Naruto, you take the center.' Do you remember why?"

Naruto did remember. After all, it had to be one of his proudest moments because he was being recognized by his peers as a crucial member of the team. Naruto replied, "Yeah, he said that I was the heavy hitter, the knock out blow."

The Fourth smiled. "Yes, but do you recall what he said to you exactly?" he asked.

Naruto nodded his head affirmative. "I was the boom."

It seemed like the Fourth Hokage was glowing with pride, his smile wide and deep. "That was what Jiraiya said about your mother during one of our missions when we were just chunnins. She was so much like you. Not much on subtlety or detail, but man could she bring the boom. You're so much like her. She would be proud of the man you have become."

At first, Naruto felt at peace, the thought of his mother giving him great comfort. But his peace would not last long.

The demon, sensing the turning of the tide, spoke out.

"And where are your comrades now boy?"

Like shattering glass Naruto's courage crumbled. Images of the carnage left behind in the waking world flooded his mind, the smell of blood and burning wreckage caused him to gag, the horrible sound of Pein's blade piercing into Hinata's flesh filled his ears.

Before he knew it, Naruto was on the ground; his legs no longer had the strength to bear him. He could feel his heart being torn apart by the maelstrom of emotions he was experiencing. He wanted so desperately to honor the memory of his father and mother by saving them all, not just his friends or village, but everyone who had to suffer from war and conflict. He wanted to bring peace, but was Pein right? Could peace only be achieved through more bloodshed? If that was the case, then the demon could give him that power. He could be the one to end all the wars.

All he needed was more power. The sudden insight imbued him with strength.

With renewed vigor, Naruto began to reach out his hand, towards the seal, the demon ever watchful, his grin widening. "Yes boy, the power is yours to have…"

"I need more power."

Naruto recognized that voice; it gave him pause. No longer in the great pit where the demon lay, Naruto saw instead the waterfall that marked the end of Fire Country where the giant statutes of the great founders of the Leaf Village stood.

And there at the top of the falls stood the boy that had haunted his dreams for the past three years, but his visage was not of the youth that he remembered. In its stead was a face marred with black scars, red eyes—cold red eyes—staring at him with bloodlust.

"Sasuke—

A thunderous roar shook Naruto from his waking dream. "Boy! Power is almost yours. Don't stop."

Naruto remembered that it was the promise of power that had taken away his friend. Hadn't he sworn never to become like the Uchiha? But still, the allure of the demon's promise could not be denied.

He looked to his father again, hoping for an answer, but would find none. "I cannot make this choice for you Naruto. It is you and you alone that can make the decision."

Naruto felt his chest tightened, his ears filling with the roar of a thousand crashing waves. His head was dizzy, his slight blurring. "What am I supposed to do? Please, someone, tell me what to do?" he cried out, tears flowing freely from his eyes.

At the moment, when all seemed lost, he caught the scent of something distant—almost indiscernible, but not quite so—lavender.

"Your smile saved me…"

In a single burst of light, he saw her, standing before Pein.

"Hinata?" responded Naruto, the shock evident on his face.

Her hair was wild, swirling in the wind.

"I'm not afraid of dying to protect you…"

"Hinata," the name nearly choking him.

"because, I love you."

Words have power, especially hers. The moment the last syllable had been uttered, Naruto could feel his strength returned—the surge in power he felt was more energizing than the natural energy of his sage arts and more revitalizing than any technique that Tsunade could possess.

With her words, all could be accomplished—even the world could be made anew. Naruto opened his eyes, a fire burning brightly in them, and knew the course. The Fourth and the Demon could feel change in the air, as if a great and heavy fog had been lifted, pierced by the ethereal glow pulsating from the young shinobi.

The demon roared, feeling his hope vanishing with the light, while the Fourth smiled. "Way to go kid," he whispered. His son was standing before them a man, his posture displaying both confidence and power. The Fourth was pleased.

"I don't need your power," declared Naruto as he stared down the great beast, "I can protect them with my own strength."

"Fool," the demon bellowed.

"I will save them all!" roared Naruto, his chakra manifesting in a brilliant array of colors.

"Watch me Father, and see what your son can do," said Naruto, a Cheshire grin adorning his face, as he rocketed into the air.

"I have never stopped my son, and never will," replied his father as his gaze followed the brilliant yellow streak blazing towards the heaven.

* * *

"Dammit, I think we're losing her."

Sakura grimaced at hearing the medic-nin's words. Without reply, Sakura placed her hand over Hinata's heart and began flooding her system with healing chakra, but the damage was extensive.

She was bleeding internally from multiple fractures, ruptured organs and tears along her musculature—the cells in her body were dying, flooding her system with toxins that were killing off the healthy tissue.

Sakura tried to work methodically, repairing one ruptured vessel after another. The apprentice to the Fifth Hokage was truly a marvel, her hands moving at dazzling speed, but the necrotic tissue was spreading faster than it could be mended. Soon, as Sakura surmised, Hinata's internal organs would shut down, killing the heiress to the Hyuuga clan.

"Sakura," Hinata struggled to say, trying to cough out the blood filling her lungs.

"Hinata, don't try to speak, conserve your strength," Sakura replied, her furrowed brow telling Hinata that her wounds were mortal.

"Tell him," said Hinata, struggling to spit the words out, "thank you—

"HINATA!" yelled Sakura as she felt Hinata slipping away.

* * *

Hinata felt light, impossibly light on her feet, as if she was floating away, which she didn't mind at all. She could feel all the tension drain from her, all her worries being lifted from her weary shoulders.

No more clan business to deal with, no more battles to fight, no more goodbyes. She was content on leaving it all behind—except for him.

She turned and called out his name, hoping for a last gesture of recall.

Hinata squeels in surprise as strong arms embraced her from behind, her blush evident even in the ethereal. Hey there," a voice said, a voice she recognized immediately. "Naruto," she cried out.

Before she could form another thought, she was spun around, her head feeling light from the spin, but the feel of his lips pressing against hers pierced through the sudden vertigo. An eternity seemed to pass before they part. Her eyes opened to the sight of his smile; her heart swelling with happiness.

"Hinata, you have to get up. You have to live. You have to stay with me," he whispered to her, his eyes never wavering from hers.

His words strike her with the force of a thousand crashing waves, but at the same time, they feel like a gentle caress across her skin.

"During my travels with Jiraiya, he told me that home is the place where there's someone thinking of you…that you should always return to those who keep you in their thoughts. Now that I know that I'm in your thoughts, I'll return to you. And you're in my thoughts now, so you'll have to return to me. Do you understand Hinata? It means you have to get up."

With teary eyes, Hinata replied, "I will Naruto. Believe it."

* * *

For the first time in a long time, Pein felt the stirring of fear in his heart when he saw the skinless demon fox erupt from the rocky tomb that his technique had created.

But before the Akatsuki leader could react, the demon fox began to howl in pain. Beams of light began to explode from its body.

"What is happening," thought Pein as he watched the terrible spectacle before him.

It would be his final thought for in that moment, the demon fox burst into flames, a single ray of light bursting through his still gaping mouth.

An instant later, Pein was face to face with Naruto, who held in both hands swirling masses of blue chakra, each the size of a large man.

"This is for Hinata," said Naruto before bringing his hands together, crashing the two Rasengans onto Pein's head.

* * *

Konan watched in horror as Pain's body became enveloped in a cascade of swirling energy, his screams echoing through the caves, the blood flowing down his eyes, ears, nose and mouth in rivulets.

"How can the boy's technique hurt Nagato from such a distance," thought Konan as she tried to save her love and childhood friend, but before she could act, she was stopped by an explosion of pain from her chest.

Looking down, Konan saw to her horror a blade jutting from where her heart once was. "This is for my village you bitch," Shikaku whispered in Konan's ear, before withdrawing the blade, which caused a fountain of blood to erupt from the wound.

Falling onto her knees, Konan barely registered the slight stinging sensation coming from her neck; she felt only the vertigo of seeing the world drifting haphazardly around her as she watched with mild curiosity the approaching floor.

"Soon Nagato, we'll be together."

* * *

Danzo had lived a long time and fought in many battles. He understood and accepted death and did not fear its coming, but he did fear the boy standing before him.

In the caverns below the village, they had waited for the right time to move on the Hokage and claim the village for themselves—and for that sin, Naruto would deliver onto them swift justice.

They were called "Root." They were supposed to be the elite of the elite, the embodiment of everything shinobi should be: strong, ruthless, and cunning. To Naruto, however, they were self-absorbed, egotistical bastards. It was almost laughable. Did they honestly say that they were the roots of the great tree that is the Hidden Leaf village? Well, it wouldn't matter for long thought Naruto.

But the men and women loitering in the caverns did not know that. All they knew was that they were about to retake the village from the weak and insufferable whore that had led their people to the devastation happening above.

Their dreams would crash down upon them, along with the debris that had preceded Naruto as he burst through the stone ceiling, landing mere meters from Danzo.

Instantly, four of Danzo's most skilled assassins leapt into action, their blades drawn—their training and skills applied with deadly accuracy.

Their deaths were quick and painless. With unseen forces, the four bodies of Danzo's men had erupted into a shower of blood, splattering walls and shinobi alike with crimson red indiscriminately—only Naruto remained unsullied.

The murderous intent emanating from the enraged young man flooded the cavern with such potency that the Root shinobi could feel it in their lungs.

With a grim expression, Naruto spoke: "You stood here while your village was under attacked. You did nothing while your friends and family were suffering above. You planned treason against your Hokage and your fellow shinobi."

Naruto paused, and let his gaze stray from Danzo's remaining eye to the audience of masked shinobi. He continued his judgement: "for your betrayal..."

Within the span of an eye blink, nearly half of the Root shinobi suddenly found themselves standing next to a falling comrade, blood sprouting from wounds that no one saw being inflicted. Only a few lived long enough to scream in pain.

"The rest of you have been spared. Go now and help those above, but make no mistake, betray us again and I will come for you," growled Naruto as he threw the blood from his kunai with a clean flick of his wrist.

Hardened men, trained to be ruthless, to show no fear, scattered like children, their anxiety filling the room with their stink.

A single breath later, Naruto and Danzo were the only ones left in the room—the only living beings alive to be more precise. They're gaze was focused on the other.

"I have inherited my father's will of fire, Danzo; so I will protect this village from all its enemies, even from those within," spoke Naruto.

"How can—

Danzo paused when Naruto raised his hand towards him. "I don't have time to hear your pathetic words Danzo. I just wanted you to know that you are a traitor and will always be remembered as a traitor. Die knowing your place in history."

If Danzo had the eyes of an Uchiha or a Hyuuga, perhaps he would have seen the thousands of translucent blades of chakra-infused wind emanating from Naruto's hand, but then he would also have to endure watching his body being mutilated by those same blades at speeds only a sharigan eye could appreciate.

The sound of dripping flesh impacting cold stone reverberated throughout the caverns, but Naruto showed no sign of disgust.

As he surveyed the carnage, Naruto felt eerily calm and was slightly perturbed by it. He had just brutally slain a dozen of his fellow shinobi, but he felt no remorse.

"destined child…"

The words struck hard; his chest tightened.

Naruto quickly scanned the room, his mind pouring every bit of sensation that his body could register to find the source of the familiar voice, but he found none, only the sight and smell of the dead was known to him.

Then in his periphery, he saw a face, but just for a moment: white hair and sad eyes.

It took only a moment for Naruto to realize the depth of his sin. With a heavy heart, he sighed, "I'm sorry sensei, but I'm going to protect her, even if it means the world."

Naruto, making his peace with the dead, walked away, deciding that a decision made should not be dwelled up for too long. Life was too short for that.

* * *

Days later, what was left of Danzo was unceremoniously cremated on the spot by a genin proficient in fire jutsus.

"You should sweep that up," squawked Hina, his teammate.

"Eh, I'll do it tomorrow," replied Zabu as he walked away, content with his day's labor. He added, "I can't stand these D-rank missions. When is the Hokage going to send us on a real mission?"


End file.
